Conventions from Real Media

Conventions – 1a – Skills

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This is a little harder to talk about in terms of progression throughout the two years as conventions vary from product to product.

We suggest, therefore, that you pair up suitable products where the conventions linked to their production can be seen to be developed as you move on from one product to the next. We have paired them up for you but clearly you can make your own mind up and choose others.

Conventions questions often have reference to Real Media Texts (RMT) so you should always have some examples to hand to mention; films, magazines, TV shows, extracts, sequences, websites etc.

Similarly to RP and DT you should complete the story template WHICH is on classroom for easy reference and marking. The template should be turned in before the end of term.

 

Skills 1a recap

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Fully Complete your Skills template in classroom. Many of the CCR4 skills stories can be used in the right hand column – you just need to add in starting points for the stories.

Always remember the skill needs a starting point and a finishing point. This can be anywhere in the course but each skill story needs to show progression.

The most important aspect is that you evidence how the skill impacted specifically on the product i.e. not just that it made it nicer, more professional. What do you mean by that? How did the colour filter directly impact on the anarchic, grungy star image? How did the transition develop the narrative disruption for the story?

Remember to use the name of the tools, techniques.

Write like a media student: use terms from across your media learning.

Read the exemplars and examiner’s reports below.

You will complete a Skills Essay in class in timed conditions.

This is the question:

“Explain how your skills in the use of creative digital technology developed over time. Refer to  a range of examples from your media productions in your answer. (25 marks)”

You can use your notes and a copy of the essay template will be on the board.

Creative Critical Reflection 2

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How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

Task:

  • Video directors commentary on all three products with particular reference to star image & brand values.

You are working in your production group to prepare the video for this but you must contribute equally to the voice over and introduce yourself when speaking. You make some bullet point prompts together, but you must be able to verbalise and explain these concepts & how they apply yourself!

Preparing the video for the commentary.

  1. Create a new Premiere project and import the .mp4 file you exported as your final draft for your music video.
  2. Drop the video into ‘sequence one’ timeline, ‘Unlink’ the sound (A1) from the  video (V1)
    1. You will either delete the sound channel completely or…
    2. …fade the music in and out over the commentary.
  3. Record a commentary explaining the brand image you have communicated in your video, digipack and website.
    1. The emphasis in this voiceover should be how the three products are…visually, thematically, aesthetically, generically, institutionally & ideologically linked into your BRAND or STAR IMAGE!
  4. You must use media terminology to describe production techniques and you used and should also use some terms relevant theory / concepts that you have learnt during the course; e.g:
    • Theory of the Active Audience: preferred / negotiated / oppositional reading (Hall)
    • Stars Image, Ideology & the Metanarrative (Dyer)
    • Semiotics & Structuralism (Barthes)
    • Narrative: Structure, themes, chronology, positioning: (Propp / Todorov, Strauss)
    • Genre: conventions (blueprint), predictable pleasure (contract) & marketing (label) (Altman)
  5. Drop in a jpeg of each pane of your digipack and screen grabs from your web site in place of, (or over) the existing footage.
    1. This means you might have a full screen image or you might layer up the images over the video in V2. This is will be where you are discussing those the specific links between the products and what you were trying to achieve.

Guidance

Please answer the following questions in your voice-over:

  1. How do the products reflect the star image & ideology of the artist?
    • Theorist – Dyer
    • Terms: Star image, Brand, Meta-narrative.
  2. How are the products designed to create a coherent brand identity?
    • Theorist – Blumler & Katz
      • Terms: Social Interaction, Information, Personal Identity & Entertainment
    • Theorist – Hall 
      • Terms: Active audience, preferred reading, ideology
  3. How does design of the digipack and website fit with the video?
    • Theorist Barthes
      • Terms: Signifies, encode, decode, cultural, symbolic, semic…code
  4. What are the institutional/business purposes behind the 3 products?
    • Theorist – Altman
      • Terms: Predictable pleasure, contract. Similar different. Marketing. Fans. Call to Action.

You may, of course, discuss other links and relationships; you should however try to show how there is a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship between the three products and how this is achieved. 

Whilst your DP and Advert will not be directly linked to the actual song in the music video, you must focus on the links between them regarding visual style, genre, star image, representation, ideology and brand packaging of the performer, which will be the same.

Notes for Directors Commentary

Structure of the commentary: Timeline Map

Essential theories – recap:

You will need to plan some bullet points for a script of this voiceover, but you must not read it out word for word! It feel like a well informed discussion between you and your partner/s.  Plan the script first and then divide it up between the group – ensuring you have covered the main theorists and links to be discussed (see above). Once you have the script, you can think about the visuals that you need.

Examples:

 

Examiners hints from the last few years:

Creative Critical Reflection 1

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How do your products use or challenge conventions and how do they represent social groups or issues?

Task: Prezi (Individual Task)

You should describe and analyse your three products with reference to specific examples and use terminology to describe how those conventional features have been used, developed, challenged (designed) by you to construct/represent a specific set of ideas, which is: your brand or mission statement! 

You must then go on to say how your representation (ideology) of your star and issues raised in video were shaped by you.

  • The conventional design features in your video, include examples such as lighting, framing & composition, camera movement  mise-en-scene, editing styles, filters, effects and rhythmic editing…
  • Conventional print design in your digipack: images, filters, adjustments, graphics, colour palette, typeface, stroke, fill, gradients, arrangement (Bring Forward, Back)…
  • Conventional web design: call to action, hero shot, social media tours, interactivity, merch links…

 

Example Prezi

Select images from professional examples and your own texts. Remember you should be able to compare or contrast the examples.

There should be five examples from your music video and three each for digipack and website.

In the video you should consider…

  • images that shows a link between themes in the music and how they are amplified / illustrated in the narrative
  • generically (un)conventional star image
  • images that demonstrates conventional use of camera
  • images that demonstrates conventional use of lighting / colour
  • images that demonstrates (un)conventional mise-en-scene
  • images that show an (un)conventional use of narrative
  • images that show you’ve drawn  inspiration from other music videos & media texts
  • FORMS (technical conventions) of lip syncing, editing to the beat, repeatability, narrative/performance ratio/ type of narrative

In the digipack you should consider…

  • how do the images scheme reflect the genre of music?
    • conventions of photo composition
    • filters / images adjustment
    • colour scheme
    • design of mise-en-scene / art work
  • how is the layout / DTP conventional for digipacks and adverts?
    • typeface selection & size
    • graphics
    • typeface size and selection
    • spacing
    • relationship between image and copy
    • FORMS (technical conventions) i.e. tracks, publisher, copy, album name, performer name, image, advert image from DP.

In the website you should consider…

  • Pages
  • Content (videos, music, album art, merchandise…)
  • Social media links
  • Design & brand
  • Fonts & colours
  • Backgrounds
  • Images

 Examples from previous students:

SASHA BELFORD

HOLLY BROWN

TERMS

Some of the concept / micro terms you should include…remember to use the terms related to Genre:

…conventional, generic, typical, usual, frequent, unusual, subvert, unconventional, challenged, used, applied, developed, manipulated, exaggerated, amplified, increased, augmented,  + repertoire of elements, genre, blueprint, contract, ingredients, star image, audience expectations, paradox of the star, ordinary, extraordinary, semic codes, cultural codes, symbolic codes, mise-en-scene, camera, lighting, font, integration of copy and images, shot distances, composition, editing, camera movement, narrative structure, disjunctive/amplified narratives, character types…

You should also regularly use ‘analysis words’ such as: represents, implies, suggests, connotes, reflects, signifies, emphasises, highlights, underlines, illustrates, shows, contributes to.

And always explain how your have…applied, developed, challenged convention. Also synonyms such as extend, subvert, amplify, exaggerate, increase, improve, extend, copy, contrast, contradict are useful alternatives.  MAKE SURE YOU HIGHLIGHT THESE KEY TERMS/WORDS AND THEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE ADDRESSED THE QUESTION.

Skills – The story so far

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This was you before you started Media Studies….

This is you now…

How did you achieve such skills?

OK SO RECAP…FLASHBACK to S1E1…

A long time ago Mrs Cobb and Mr Gregson asked some students to keep a diary of reflections…

You know, those random reflection posts that your past selves wrote as you made your preliminary tasks, your music magazines, your music videos, your digipacks and your websites…

  • Also, just as important are your Creative Critical Reflection questions.

You have been reflecting, logging and recording your skills development from the beginning of the course and ALL THE ANSWERS TO THIS ARE IN YOUR BLOG!

So…you need to go back through time, back through your blog & maybe ours, to find the answers to these questions:

  • How did you get so creative?
  • To what extent did the development of your research and planning lead to more creative
    media products?
  • In what ways did you engage with the conventions of real media texts in your own productions?
  • Assess the importance of digital technology skills in your production work.

Spot the fake previous exam question above…however,

CREATIVITY really is at the heart of it all!

Media Studies is, after all, a creative art.

It fact, I would argue that Media is The Creative Art that is shaping the images, the sounds, the links, the narratives, the genres, the representations and ultimately the ideas that shape society’s values, attitudes and beliefs…

YEAH BABY! IDEOLOGY!

That word, ‘Ideology’ is key to understanding Media Studies as a subject!

So go on…explain…what I mean…if you can…

 

Star Image – Representation

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IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STAR IMAGE!

How the star/band/performer is represented in your video and on the digipak and website is crucial in constructing the values, attitudes and beliefs of the artist in the mind of the target audience.

REPRESENTATION, AUDIENCE AND OWNERSHIP ARE COMPLETELY INTERTWINED CONCEPTS!

WHAT IS THE INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE OF A MUSIC VIDEO?

Music videos are made primarily to promote the star, in order to sell their music, in order to make money…well mostly!

They are also constructed to construct a set of desires in the target audience to be like them, think like them, love what they love, be involved in their lives & buy what they suggest.

There are huge synergies between marketing and star image! We don’t just buy a product we also buy into the values of the star image and in purchasing their product emulate them. Media representations of the star image is crucial in terms of raising an audience awareness.

STARS SHOULD BE STUDIED AND ANALYSED LIKE ANY OTHER TEXT!

They are essentially walking talking brands, who use their branding to advertise, publicise and sell to fans. Stars have to remain constantly interesting to keep the fans intrigued – the star image evolves and is constantly reinvented by media companies! In fact Stars could be seen as its own special kind of ‘species’.

RICHARD DYER

Richard Dyer Handout

Richard Dyer is a theorist you need to learn about. He came up with some concepts about how ‘star image’ works in the media. The link to the concepts booklet is in the menu at the top of the blog. Find it, add it to your drive, print it, LEARN IT!

TASK

CREATE A ONLINE CONCEPT BOARD IN PINTEREST/GOMOODBOARD STAR IMAGE (you can use any other collage app of your choice but you must be able to annotate the images you upload to it).

Your task is to take the ‘star’ (performer, duet, band, group…) you analysed when you did the genre analysis and create a ‘concept board’ on how they are ‘represented‘.

Find examples of news stories, incidents, events, digipak covers, music videos, articles, blogs, tweets that all contribute to their ‘star image’. The way they are represented is called their ‘metanarrative‘ (over arching story about them).

Image result for pinterest

And remember, just as you do in your TV drama analysis – you must add ADJECTIVES to how they appear through that particular event, story, picture etc. You can do this task as a group but must all equally contribute to the page.

This is a link to an excellent example. You should have at least 15 – 20 images and comments.

Genre – introduction to the concepts of Genre

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Genre is simultaneously an act of similarity and difference.

Two of the theorists you should understand and be able to quote, apply and analyse for the Concepts 1b section of the exam are Lacey and Altman (Page 13/14 of the Theory Booklet). You may get a question on genre and how one of the products was ‘generic’ i.e. it followed set patterns, conventions and ideas to fit the genre of music in order to appease its fans.

Lacey’s ‘Repertoire of Elements’ (recipe of ingredients) contribute towards the following ideas of how genre is classified according to Altman.

  • Blueprint
  • Label
  • Contract
  • Structure

Remember, it’s all about the Victoria Sponge and the consumer’s expectations in relation to the Chef’s recipe.

Later in the week you will be specifically researching the conventional cinematography associated with your particular genre and making a visual shot list based on your findings. This will help you ensure that your music video fits its genre.  That said, remember, genre is all about similarity and difference.  Your music video needs to satisfy audience expectations but it needs to be imaganitive, unique and creative so you will have to develop and challenge the conventions too.

Music Video – Conventions – detailed analysis

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Here’s a music video we’re going to complete a close analysis of, Katy Perry – Chained to the Rhythm:

You should type  up that analysis and embed it into the post called Close Analysis of Music Video.

Here is a blank version of the form you can use.

To supplement this, you must do your own close analysis. Choose another video from the list suggested and use the sheet attached (make your own copy) and do your own analysis.

This work is important as it shows that you are able to deconstruct the narrative, performance, star image and generic & technical conventions of a music video. This will help inform your own production ideas and help prepare you for the exam by starting to use all the terms that you need.

Kodaline – Love Like This

Lana del Rey – Born to Die

Muse – Time is Running Out

Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams

Christina Aguilera – Say Something

Foo Fighters – Pretender

Music Video – forms and conventions

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Study, reflect, consider, enjoy, be inspired:

This week we’re going to be watching some of the videos from this playlist. They were carefully chosen because as they illustrate many of the conventions typical of this media form.

You need to study these videos carefully so that you understand the following:

  • The media form
  • Technical conventions
  • Features typical to the genre of music.
  • Narrative conventions and structures.

You must be understand these things in order to be able the develop and devise videos of your own video and knowingly use, challenge or subvert conventional features.

Complete this form and make a copy yourself and then save as a PDF and upload to your blog.

It is your first piece of coursework so do it well!

Narrative presentation.

Here are some other suggestions but try and get a range of genres and different narrative/performance ratios.

Narrative Only

Performance Only

Performance and Narrative (disjunctive)

Narrative Only

Narrative and Performance

Performance and Narrative

Double Page Spread

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 What is a double page spread?

Quite simply, an article that takes up 2 pages and includes copy and photographs. It is usually the ‘centre’ two pages of a magazine and will usually feature the main cover star from the front cover. In other words, it is THE BIG STORY.

In the New Year, we will be focusing on the copy, headlines, captions and how to write the main feature for the double page spread. Writing well and in the right register for your audience is a skill all media communicators need to master.

In the meantime, mocking up and drafting your double page spread should be done before Christmas.

Here are some classic examples of music magazine double page spreads.

 

Here are some basic conventions, codes of how a double page spread usually appears.

  1. The image will go across the two pages or be on one with the writing on the other side.  Usually the photo goes on the left but not always.  The writing in a column will NEVER be split across the staple line!
  2. Stand first– this is an introduction to the article – it will sum up/precis what the article is all about and entice the reader to read on.
  3. Drop capital – it extends down 3 or 4 lines.  At the start of paragraphs the first letter is often much larger; makes reading easier and acts as navigation through the text.#
  4. Quotes – can be controversial and used to break up the copy/text or act as a headline and could use a larger, stand out font.
  5. Headline – sometimes a quote from the interview with the artist. Often uses alliteration so that the headline stands out.
  6. The By Line – says who the article is by.
  7. Direct address – the model will often break the 4th wall.
  8. Columns usually 2 or 4 with equal guttering (spacing horizontally between paragraphs and vertically between columns).
  9. Colour scheme – continues with the brand, vibe of the other pages i.e. cover colour scheme.
  10. Page numbers and a little version of masthead or logo somewhere on the page.
  11.  Instead of full stop at the end of the article they use a small block or something to do with their logo/masthead (for example on NME they might have an ‘n’).
  12. Appropriate language/register to establish a relationship with the target audience.
  13. They may have a release date for album or a tour date.
  14. On the photo they usually have somewhere by it the name of the photographer.
  15. Questions to the artist from the interview will be in a different colour, and the name of person who asked the question.