Evaluation Question 1

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

When creating our media product, we researched into the generic conventions used in real media texts from the same genre. This gave us a much greater understanding of what would be stereotypical for the audience to see within our product.

Our media product follows the generic conventions of our chosen genre from the way that we shot the footage to the themes used throughout the video and also included in our digipak and poster design.

We were inspired by the video for 'Asylum' by Disturbed as the themes used within this video are very similar to the initial thoughts that our chosen song gave us in relation to the music video. We felt that the motifs used within the video portrayed a very similar atmosphere to that by our chosen song.

We also noticed whilst analysing this and other videos in the metal genre was that they are often quite dark in colour and mainly use white light to give a colder feel.
Another generic convention of metal/rock music videos is that they use fast paced editing to give a chaotic feel.

These are some comparisons of shots taken from our music video and shots taken for existing real media texts.

 

From researching into the metal genre, we noticed that it is often much less about how the band members look than is seen in other genres such as pop. This is shown in a very literal sense in nu-metal band Slipknot's video for 'Before I Forget'. The use of very interesting camera angles means that even though you never see a full profile or head shot of the members, the video is still engaging to the audience. We took inspiration from this in our own music video by never showing the band members in the performance shots, the attention is entirely placed onto their instruments.

Below are some comparisons of performance shots from the video 'Before I Forget' and our own music video.

Another music video that followed a similar theme to ours through both lyrics and visuals is Avenged Sevenfold's 'Nightmare'. This video was a perfect example of how we wanted to combine a strong narrative with performance shots. This is also a convention that is commonly used within the metal genre. Fast paced editing that includes links between the music and visuals create a very effective atmosphere in a video and is used in most metal videos and we felt that this was the most important convention for us to follow when creating our music video product.

There were only a few actual shots that have been used as comparison against our own from this video, but the others were used as inspiration.

Music Video Final Cut

Final Magazine Advert

Final Digipak

Final digipak without (above) and with CD (below)

Avenged Sevenfold Magazine Advertisement

This advertisement for a new CD is striking because it doesn't tell you too much about the album but gives you all the necessary information like the artist, name of the album, release date and where you can purchase it. The colour scheme is simple and not overpowering meaning it stands out and is easy to read. The fonts used make it eye catching whilst also following the regular motif of Avenged Sevenfold. It is the same font that is used on the album artwork meaning that the audience will know what they are looking for when going to buy the album.

The only image used on the poster is the 'batskull' which is Avenged Sevenfold's logo which can easily be recognised by fans, also the fact that it is an intersting logo means that it will also draw in the attention of new fans.

Machine Head Magazine Advertisment

 The magazine advertisement for Machine Head's album 'Unto The Locust' uses the same colours and font as the album artwork, meaning that it will be easily recognizable to existing fans. The album artwork is interesting and with it being in the center of the page, attention is drawn to it. The record label logo is at the bottom of the page. This means that people who are fans of other bands on the label may be interested in listening to them.
It also advertises the 'Exclusive Unto The Locust Bundle' which includes a special edition CD/DVD with bonus tracks and expanded artwork, a t-shirt and a download of the album the day before release. These kind of exclusive perks would appeal to existing fans who want to feel that they have a better version of the album than other buyers.
This magazine advertisement was also used as a web advert with 'Click here to pre-order'  links placed at the side.

Digipak Analysis

This is the digipak for the Deluxe Edition of P!nk's 'The Truth About Love', 2012.

The images on the inside of the digipak flow together well, it doesn't look like three individual images. The colour scheme runs throughout the entirety digipak. It uses light pastel colours with accents of red and black, this makes it stand out. The pack includes a CD, DVD and lyrics booklet. The disks are found at either end with the lyric booklet in the center pocket of the digipak.
The title of the album is 'The Truth About Love', the pictures included in the digipak show the artist 'P!nk' smiling, shouting and crouching down with her finger to her lips. These simple pictures connote the idea that the songs featured in the album will portray many of the different sides to and feelings associated with love.
There are strong bold colours and fonts used on the inside panels of the digipak which contrast greatly with the softer tones used on the front and back panels. This gives the impression that the album may seem soft and delicate at first but then reveals a strong and feisty underlay which is typical of the artist P!nk.

This is the digipak for Slipknot's self titled album, 1999.

The theme of the digipak follows through with the general motif of slipknot as it shows pictures of them in their boiler suits and masks. A common colour theme used throughout Slipknot's packaging and merchandise is black, red and dark tones. They always use band shots in their promotional digipak's and CD's. The CD is in the center of the digipak with images and the lyric booklet to the sides.

To somebody buying the album who hasn't heard Slipknot's music before, the visuals of the digipak would give them the impression that their music is dark, heavy and angry.