Evaluation Task 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A media form is the overall shape of media product, e.g. a music video. A media convention is an expected style of structure typically used inside of a genre within a media form, e.g. the conventions of a pop video would include high key lighting, bright colours, etc. An example of a media convention of a music video would be the time and length (3-5 minutes long), performance and stylistic elements or a combination of several of these conventions. Conventions can be split into technical conventions and symbolic conversations. Technical conventions include how the video is typically filmed, lit, shot and edited. Symbolic conventions incorporate how costumes, performance, sets and props are used in a specific genre. We follow conventions because it is a "tried and tested formula, which has been deemed to be successful".

In my video we have challenged and agreed to many conventions in the genre of our artist. The genre of our artist we have created is EDM. EDM is an umbrella term for many genres within, such as, dance, house, techno, drum and bass, etc.

TECHNICAL CONVENTIONS

Editing conventions 

In this genre we a typical editing convention is the use of fast rhythmic editing on the beat. This is shown in an examples below. This short clip of Calvin Harris' My Way shows fast rhythmic editing on the 'drop' of the music. This represents a convention which we used across many EDM music videos, including ours (also shown below). Rhythmic editing (cutting to the beat) is used to emphasise the beat of the track and the pace of the music. 

Along with this another convention which we developed in our music video was the use of discontinuity editing. We used discontinuity editing through the use of our graphic match created in the editing process. We used the idea of discontinuity editing as a part of our video (on the 'drop') as we wanted a piece of editing to capture the audience as this idea of the graphic match is something which is a limited form as it isn't shown very often, but it will capture the audience as it is something which is a visually stimulating for the them to watch. To show a similarity with other music videos in our genre (EDM) I have compared it to Skrillex and Justin Bieber's Where Are Ü Now. This similarity of discontinuity editing is shown below:

Lighting conventions

In this genre, the use of this technical area is very important, especially in this genre. This is because in this genre of music it is about the 'drop' of the song as it is the part which the audience look towards. In doing this we have developed the convention of setting a club scene/the type of lighting they would be using in a club scene. In our music video we have used this convention to emphasise the idea that our artist is a performer. An example which I have used to show a similarity with other music videos in the same genre is Calvin Harris' This Is What You Came For. I have chosen this song from many as it clearly shows the use of lighting on the 'drop' of the song (developing the convention).

Camera conventions

In this genre there are many camera conventions, such as the use of tracking shots in the artists music video. There is a use of tracking shots in this genre (EDM) so that the audience is able to follow the artist as they are on the stage of the music video as the camera techniques used allow a full view of the band members individually. In the case of my artist we use this convention so that the audience are able to view each band member easily but that they can identify the main artist of the group. A video to show the use and development of this convention of camera techniques is Daft Punk's Get Lucky (shown below).

Along with tracking shots another convention which I have shown in my music video is a close up on the key line of the song. This is shown in many EDM music videos, such as 'Radioactive' by Anna Lunoe. This is shown in my music video when we here the start of the chorus with the lyrics of "I hear the nightcall". The use of this convention shows that we wanted to create a connection between the audience and our artist by having a clear shot of the main artist on the key line of the song causing the audience to create a link with the main line and our artists face, overall helping him generate his 'star image'.

This convention is shown across many other EDM artists. This is mainly because, as well as making a connection with the artist, it really 'shows off' the ability of our artist. The close up/clear shot of our artist on the key line of the song really emphasised our artist's look making the audience remember him and his name. We helped our artist with the use of a shallow depth of field to make him more attractive and making him stand out and we did this with a special lens (50mm).

SYMBOLIC CONVENTIONS

Costume conventions

In my music video we have developed a costume convention of our artist having a uniform. We gave him a piece of uniform to help audiences remember his name and his music. Along with this we also gave him (as well as the whole group) the uniform so that they were seen as a unity. However, we did challenge the idea of uniform conventions in this genre as the uniform of our artist was building dungarees. Usually a convention of uniform in this genre (when it is used) tend to be a hair style or an accessory which the artist will have at all times to make them individual. This is different to our artist as his is an item of clothing which is seen straight away by the audience and it is worn by the whole crew, therefore showing that he isn't focusing on his fame and that he is about the music which he creates. An example of this within our genre is Deadmau5.

WEBSITE CONVENTIONS

Layout conventions

A convention of the layout in my genre (EDM) is the ability to navigate around the website homepage easily. This is done by having titles at the top of the page (listed) and, in our case, having easily seen tabs to, again, help the audience around the website as swiftly as possible. Research was done to check the conventions of this, this is shown below. 

Along with this convention there is also the convention of having stills of the artist and what the artist loved doing with his life (music). Our website has developed these conventions in a way that will help him rise as an up and coming artist, but also in a way that will make the audience realise that he is about his music. My website homepage is shown below to show the way that it had used and developed these conventions of homepage in this genre.

DIGIPAK CONVENTIONS

Colour conventions

Within the digipak sector of my coursework my group and I performed research into the colour that digipaks in our genre include on their digipaks. I found that artists in this genre tend to use bright colours to make them stand out amongst other artists. This is shown below by many artists, such as Chainsmokers and Galantis. We developed this convention in our digipak as one of our main aims was to have colour as the focus of our digipak. The use of this convention was effective because it allowed us to really make our up and coming artist to stand out amongst this large genre.