Introduction to Evaluation 1

In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Conventions are what the audience expects to see. They can be used, supported or reiterated or on the other hand they can be challenged and deliberately broken to subvert expectations. The use of conventions is clear in my media product, although in some elements we did break conventions.

In answer to the question, the use of conventions is evident in my media product. For example, relating to the music video, we incorporated a dance routine which is a definite convention to an all female cast music video. We researched elements of digipak, websites and videos in order to create a realistic campaign which reflects media products in the industry.

On the other hand, we developed and challenged common conventions. For example, our music video was shot in very dark lighting, this isn't a common convention of pop music videos, as they are usually shot in bright lighting. Our video was also unconventional in the way that an all female cast were exploring a forest/run down building, this is because female artists are usually shot in stereotypical female environments. I feel as though this differentiates my product to other products in the competitive music industry. We challenged audiences expectations and attempted to bring something new to media forms. Moving away from traditional conventions enabled us to sell the star image that we intended to promote.

Audiences produce meaning from the interaction of the conventional material in a text and their understanding of conventions, for example an audience should be able to see what the  type of band/artist is by looking at the digipak/website/video.