In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Laura Ward

Introduction

In the research and planning stage I recognized the common Pop conventions that is used in real media products for example, adverts, digipacks and the actually music video. I started to decide on how I would incorporate these into my own texts and music video. I then researched these conventions on the internet to find out how they are used and why which helped me to make my media products. Pop conventions have the same theme throughout the genre but can be mixed up through different range of people in the band either boys or girls in a band and also the style they have which is pretty clear to see. I used the Pop convention but I didn't really develop or challenge as much as I might of wanted to but the ancillary text was quite straight forward. When it came to the research and planning I felt it came in very useful as it gave me extra knowledge and elements that would look more effective when it came to the bands genre and style. Below I will be showing some of the Pop conventions I researched and used whilst making my media products.

Colour Used

The first convention I looked out was the colours used in the Pop genre which was bright and out standing to get the audiences attention, that is used on the ancillary text and also the music video. My ancillary text didn't have much of a colour scheme at first but this is quite normal as some bands are very diverse and not always connected together. This can work well depending on the type of band being used or some might want a to use a colour scheme through their products likes magazine and digipack. This is something I developed on as a direct link to my ancillary text. I thought the idea of using the same colour scheme throughout the products that include my digipack and advert would be a good idea as this would relate each piece of my work I did back together making it easy for the audience to recognise my products. I decided on using bright colours as much as possible as Pop genre relies on exaggerated colours to catch the audiences eyes. This is used for many girl bands like Little Mix and Parade as they work mainly through their colour and positioning on digipacks and adverts to get the best look and make it very eye catching. The photograph I used on my advert cover was quite bright but on normal Pop covers they would make the photograph as bright and colourful as possible to stand out on the page and make the band members look vibrant and full of life. The colours used work quite well as they are bright and suit the band in the photographs as their are three girls shown but it isn't to distracting so you don't focus on one aspect of the advert which was the aim as the information on the page is very important for the readers to see. This is also used on the Saturdays products as they use bright colours on each girl to make them all stand out but at the same time they use the right amount so it isn't to distracting to the eye. The most noticeable colours on my advert and digipack is red, white, black and blue which complement each other quite well as they are suitable colours with a hit of brightness in them but not to much to be distracting. My digipack uses the same colour scheme as the advert as I wanted to make a link throughout the products to make it easy for the readers to see what products are The Laze Lights. This is shown from the same colours being used and also the style of writing making it simple and plain to the eye when reading it. The background I use that is shown behind the girls in the band in their photographs is the same in each shot and is also shown on the girls single shots on my digipack. The individual photographs are shown on three sections of the digipack case and the other two have just a straight forward photograph of the background so its simple to the eye and can have writing on it and doesn't get distracted by the background as the colours aren't shown to be to bright. I chose two different photographs on my advert and digipack as I wanted a bit of a different feel to them both seeing their using the same colours something had to stand out. On the digipack I had them standing in a line next to each other which is taken from the research iv done on other bands as they are shown in this way a lot. When it came to my advert I tried something a bit different with the positioning of the girls which worked quite well as it stands out as its not normally found on a conventional Pop magazine that could also be a negative but has worked for my product. I didn't think about editing my pictures as they looked right for the style I was going for. Extra time could of been spent on improving the advert and digipack but I didn't have time as I got the basics done and improved the layout and the way it looked.

Location

When it came to both of my ancillary text, I used the same location for the photographs and similar clothing so they would relate when it

came to looking at my products and recognising them. The location wasn't the brightest place to take photographs as these shots were

taken in my garage which left me with the daylight and a extra bit of light from the garage light that hangs from the top of the roof. This location isn't conventional to the genre I'm doing but I didn't have

many choices when it came to areas I could shoot in, but the background and light shown on the right side of their faces gives the

photograph more meaning. The photos iv taken are in the Pop category which are mainly based on the colours iv used and the positioning of the girls in the band to get the over all feel to the

photograph. Some of the locations I took my photographs in are darker that I didn't include in my digipack or advert as I didn't want

them to be dark I wanted them to use light colours not to out standing and not dark that you cant see the girls faces as their faces are one of the main features to see their expressions when their together which is happiness. I used a variety of location including a brick wall, graffiti

wall and painted background which is a conventional for the genre I'm doing as this shows their different personalities. This was used in my

video so you could tell which member of the band you where listening to but wasn't used through my ancillary text as it didn't look right on

the advert and I wanted to keep a scheme going through the digipack and advert so it would relate to other products when it came to the

audience looking for their products. These are the different locations I used for each girl which links to the girl band like little mix as they use

many different location to make their music videos and photographs more interesting.

Action Shot

This is a common convention used in Pop videos to get many shots in about two seconds. This gives a fun and exciting view on the band which is presented in my music video with The Laze Lights. My music video was based on the individual shots and the closeness of the girls that could be seen through the shots I had taken that gave a really girl band sense to them. This was part of my research as I had found out this key points that are used in my genres music video, for example girls aloud use many shots at once making it eye catching with bright lights and fears colours that are bold. This is the sort of style I was going for just more of a calm downed version. This idea of action shots make the video fun to watch as every second the shots would change so you wouldn't be looking at one shot for to long and they are all different. Pop music videos are usually upbeat and have a good feel to them that gets everyone interested in watching the video in the first place. Therefore the shots are fast to change because there is so much going on in the video and I used this to portray my band members equally and expressing their individual personalities through many different stages including dancing, singing and acting through their body language. Making it a fast passed video links it in well with the song and the genre iv used, this works well to stand out and get the attention of the audience. There are many different kind of shots we used that include long shots, mid shots, close ups and extreme close ups that were put into the video at the right time where the song speed up or slowed down. The link in the bottom right hand corner is my music video and if you click on this you can see the action shots being played out through out the video. I developed this idea from a few girl bands music video I had watched when research and planning my media products and the bands this included were the Saturdays, little mix, parade and girls aloud. All this bands use these kind of shots when it comes to their videos so they can make it fun and exciting as this is all part of the Pop genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MtLUlqmy8Y

Costumes

Costumes are one of the main conventions needed in the ancillary text and music video as this sets out the genre of the song straight away and will show how well recognised they are through their clothing style. As iv said before in the recent text that I have used the same photographs that were taken at the same time and same location for both my advert and digipack so the band members where wearing the same or at least similar clothing. This allows them to be noticed for their Pop style for the future releases and appearances. For the band to fit into today clothing industry I had to think about the sort of style Pop groups wear which I found out through my research and planning by looking at other bands like the Saturdays who wear shorts, tops and skirts as well as leggings. These are the sort of styles that are worn a lot these days by younger girls as they take inspiration from celebrities so I took this all into consideration when it came to picking out clothing for the band. I decide for them to wear these clothes because it best portrays their personalities as each girl had a different style but kept in the genre. This had a positive fun effect and it also meet the age range of their target market as it can inspire them with their fashion sense. You can see the below I have used the same styling in each photograph so it keeps to the convention. I used these styles because they work well with fashion in the industry today and aren't to far fetched unlike other bands that use expensive bright clothes. I tried to link the clothing sense back to little mix as their fashion inspired me to style my band members in this way. The clothes best describe each girls personality so I made sure they were happy with the costume decisions as I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable in the clothes they were wearing as this could possible come through on the photographs and music video which wouldn’t make it look realistic.

Lighting

The lighting used in my ancillary text was quite straight forward as I didn't experiment much with the lighting in the photographs or in the

must video. When it came to taking photographs of my band I used natural light as I didn't have any extra light stands that I could use when I was outside or in the garage taking group photos. The convention used is

bright and colourful and a secreted few were bright because of the day light and the placement of the artist hand the right amount of sun on their face making them glow. Other shots I had took were darker and

didn't fit in with the convention and I decided I wouldn't use them but I could of made those photographs brighter through Photoshop but I

didn't use this skills when it came to making the advert and digipack. A lot of Pop photos are bright and exciting so I did the painting background

with bright colours so it would fit in with the genre and the style I'm going for as well. I decided to take the pictures in a natural light so I can

alter the brightness and contrast myself. The advert photograph is bigger and brighter as its the only picture on the page and needs to stand out so this particular photo had extra colour added to it. On the digipack it

uses a lot of the same background photo for each CD case and they are shown to be more neutral than bright so each case works together and

none stand out from the others. If I had used dark colours and effects then it wouldn't of fitted in as well as this isn't the convention I'm using

for my genre. By looking at a few shots iv took of the scenes I'm my video you can see the different lighting techniques iv used for example

the first one is bright and uses natural day light which gets a very natural effect of the band member. The second shot is darker as its filmed inside

where there is only one source of lighting coming through from them garage light which is above the camera. The final shot is taken outside when the nights were drawing in so not much natural light was about

that’s why this particular scene is quite dark over all.

Long shots, Mid shots, Close ups and Extreme Close ups

The convention I used the most on my ancillary text and music video was close ups and long shots as these are used in real media products. For example Little Mix they use many close ups so you can see their lip syncing and facial expressions in photos as well as using long shots so you can see more of their body language which says a lot when doing a music video or on the ancillary text. This shows more expressions and someone personality being able to see more of someone and their clothing that tells a lot about them. Mid shots and extreme close ups are used as well because the extreme close ups show more expressions in their eyes and lips defiantly when it comes to the lip syncing scene’s as this allows the audience to understand them better. The mid shots can be used a lot as some times you don't want to see the whole body but another to understand the shot this is usually used when movement is used or some group shots so you can see them all together. By using a mixture of these camera angels it keeps the video interesting and at a fast passé making the audience watch it all the way through. On the ancillary text I have also used mid shots/long shots as this works with the convention on the genre and ties the three together. By using a variety of shots and angles it gives it a more interesting and exciting look for both ancillary text, this is shown on other well know media products as it enhances the bands style and personality. I used all angles when using the camera making my video as I could use many different shots to make the video work well to the conventional genre I'm using. Mid shots and Extreme close ups enhance shots and makes them positive and more effective. This expresses the Pop genre as it highlights their dancing, singing and body language.

Band Performance

In my ancillary text I used photographs of the band as I wanted them to be relevant to the girls in the band. I didn't use to much effects on the photos to make them look to bright or colourful as I thought this would be a bit to much for my bands look and also with the genre as I want it to look like a real media product, so by using minimal amount of effects on each photo it would enhance this idea of my bands look. My band is shown on each case but they are portrayed in a different way so it doesn't look boring and stands out. I positioned the girls in a certain way as one of the girls was shorter than the other to and making her go in the middle made the photo very effective and it created a good contrast for the band being seen together. When it comes to the actual performance of the band it is seen that they are shown together a lot of the time and very close together for this genre, so I made sure there were shots throughout the video showing the girls together and hugging each other getting their relationship across to the audience. Also the single shots just showed more about themselves and their own personalities, which in these individual shots gave them to time to do this. Because of all of this I decided to use the same location for my advert and digipack so they relate back to each other. These are shown both in the video shots and in the photos I used on my ancillary text which can be recognised if they are performing or not. The shots I am showing here are of my music video and also little mix's as they use the same group shots. Long shots are used a lot when it comes to band performance which is showed in these particular shots. Also the movement they do as girl bands are known for dancing which I have made one of my many elements in the song.

Editing

Editing is a major convention of Pop and used in a lot of media products especially this one. I used editing mainly in my music video and a little on my ancillary text. For my digipack I used little bits of editing on my images making them bright and less dark as some images came out darker than others as well as adding contrast. I didn't increase the quality of my photos as I didn't have enough time to do so but if I could I would change this to make it look more professional. I also used the same techniques on my magazine advert as they used the same aspect when it came to the look I wanted. Without the use of this convention then my ancillary text would not look as professional as other media products.

Overall the use of the Pop convention made my ancillary text and music video a success in making it interesting because without these they would not look as realistic and exciting. This would enable them

to fit into the music industry as they wouldn't fit into the Pop category. Some of the conventions were a bit out there so I made it more simple

and basic but it was what I was aiming for with the video. By researching and planning before making any of our media products it made it easier to see what we could work with that wasn't to hard to

do and the kind of Pop girl bands that are around making my band look different and interesting. By doing all this I can see how their

portrayed and why, which helped me to make my final products.

Mise en Scene

The mise en scene is one of my main priorities to consider when making the ancillary text and music video. I used the same location for my photos for my advert and digipack as it kept it simple and basic for the type of genre I'm doing. Also this relates back to my music video as this is one of the locations I used in my music video. The lighting was natural so by using this technique instead of artificial lights you don't get distracted from the band and the use of no props were also used. On the digipack I used individual shots of the girls on their own, on three of the panels as this effect gives off their individual styles and personalities. I thought it was important to make the mise en scene the main focus as this is used a lot on Pop videos and the song is just in the background but also related into the mise en scene. So when it came to making the video I had to get as many shots as possible to make it stand out and be exciting to watch for the audience to keep them interested. These are some of the shots iv used on my ancillary texts and music video as this is the main location used through out my media products and connects to my research and planning as other girl bands use a main location too so I developed on this idea and used this so my target audience would recognise my band.