In what ways does your media In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real forms and conventions of real media products?media products?

By JahquaniBy Jahquani

• Our group’s products use develop the conventions of our genre. Which is alternative rock. When producing our products we had several codes and conventions to consider, we had the choice to also challenge them.

Todorov’s Narrative TheoryTodorov’s Narrative Theory

• Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in 5 stages:

• A state of equilibrium ( Emmanuel getting bullied)

• A disruption o the equilibrium by some action( Emmanuel fighting back)

• A recognition that there has been a disruption ( other students backing off)

• An attempt to repair the disruption( Emmanuel leaving school)

• A reinstatement of the equilibrium ( Emmanuel committing suicide)

Researching TheoristsResearching Theorists• After researching theories of music videos the key theorists were Andrew Goodwin

and Laura Mulvey. Goodwin argues that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, there must be a relationship between lyrics and visuals and there is a frequent notion of looking. We conformed to Goodwin’s theory as we have a relationship between lyrics and visuals. After looking at Laura Mulvey I found that we would not include her theory of the male gaze.

• After researching I also found some general codes and conventions across a wide range of genres including close ups, props and the editing matching the pace of

music.

USEUSE• More specifically to our music video we used several conventions from rock genre.

For example a common theme is locations being warehouses, deserted buildings and tunnels. We identified this feature and decided to replicate a similar location. Using an alleyway highlighted the main actor’s loneliness and gave him a sense of feeling trapped. We used inspiration from Linkin Park’s original video for One Step Closer. In the video the band is performing in a dark tunnel and also at the beginning of the video we see people in a dark alleyway pointing and laughing.

This scene is where we see Emmanuel walking down the alleyway

This image is from the original Linkin Park video we see people pointing and laughing in a

dark alleyway.

USEUSE• Another way we used the codes and conventions of the rock genre was by

including a narrative involving being bullied or being alone.

• Our narrative includes Emmanuel being bullied by fellow students and finally building up the courage to face them before killing himself.

• He is shown as an outcast from society, this narrative has also been seen in Linkin Park’s videos Numb and you can see this in other genres to including

RNB and Pop

Both music videos have a narrative leading to suicide

USE USE

• Other actors were different from the main character, this was to show that everyone else was normal whilst Emmanuel an outcast and dissimilar. This difference has also occurred in other rock videos.

USEUSE• We incorporated the idea of suicide into our video to show that bullying could have serious

consequences. Our inspiration came from the video below which also incorporated the idea of suicide. To do this we used a mid shot this was partly to make the hill seem higher but also to show the impact of how high Emmanuel was jumping. In Ed Sheeran’s give they used a high angle shot to show the blood and boy position the protagonist landed in.

• The use of the mid shot showed pathetic fallacy, the audience are able to see the dark sky and the clouds which relates to how Emmanuel is feeling before he jumps.

Ed Sheeran – Give Me Love Emmanuel about to jump

DEVELOPEDDEVELOPED

• Rock videos usually have unique lighting and effects including dark rooms and flashbacks. Our video takes this one step further by concentrating on the transitions between shots. We developed the codes and conventions by not using traditional pan shots but fading images and white screens. This gave the next scene more impact .

CHALLENGE CHALLENGE

• Our video doesn’t include a performance and interaction with the audience or the fans. For example Linkin Park – faint, shows the band performing. In addition we didn’t use the stereotypical leather jacket, heavy make up mis en scene.

How did we use, develop and challenge the codes How did we use, develop and challenge the codes and conventions with our album cover?and conventions with our album cover?

Codes and Conventions of an Codes and Conventions of an Album Cover Album Cover

• The artist’s name

• Album Title

• The main image

• Age restrictions

• Logo

• Colour scheme

• Track list

• Barcode

• Recording information

We used the codes and conventions of album covers by including the band name. We used the same font as other Linkin Park albums.

Using the same font makes the band instantly recognisable.

We used the same font as Minutes to Midnight, road to revolution & songs from underground .

This font is consistent in 3 of their albums including:

CHALLENGE CHALLENGE

• As well as using and developing the codes and conventions of real products we challenged them. One common code and convention of rock music videos are the band with the instruments they individually play. We decided against this as when recording the lip synching, we only had one person and it wasn't possible to get him to play all types of instruments. Also the opening scenes of the original video featured a guitar solo but we used the narrative from the beginning so there was no space for including this.

Album Title Album Title

An album cover gives the audience a sense of what the album will be about, for example Rihanna’s album Loud was letting the audience know that a lot of upbeat songs would be on the album.

We included the album name ( Hybrid Theory) however we didn't use a big font size. We wanted to focus on the band and making the album cover instantly recognisable. Some album covers don't even include the title or artists name. For example Aerosmith – Draw the Line.

Main ImageMain Image

• Different genres have different codes and conventions for album pictures, for example the pop genre will usually have a close up of the artist or band whilst a rock or Alternative bands will have an unique picture not of themselves.

Pop Alternative Garage

We decided wanted to use a plain background however we also wanted to incorporate scenes from the music video. We combined this to create a faded look and a montage of different images.

Age restrictions Age restrictions

• There is usually a parental advisory sticker to let audiences know that the album may have offensive or inappropriate language. This also depends on the genre of music, for example Hip Hop albums will include this whilst Pop wont.

We developed the codes and conventions of the rock genre album covers, we used a parental advisory sticker because we felt that the album included a lot of sensitive subjects e.g. One step closer Lead singer Chester Bennington wrote this to express the anger he felt growing up. He didn't fit in well and got beat up a lot. Bennington wanted kids who hate themselves at times to know that he went through the same thing. He did not intend it as an excuse for self-pity or anger.

How did we use, develop and challenge the codes and conventions with our album cover (back) ?

Barcode Barcode • All album covers have a barcode, which is used for pricing.

Both album covers have a barcode.

Record Company InformationRecord Company Information

• Linkin park are with the labels Warner Bros and Machine. Their debut album hybrid theory was with Warner Bros. This promotes the record label as well as showing who the band is associated with.

Both these Linkin Park album covers have the Warner Bros logo. We used this convention because it had been used in ALL Linkin Park album covers and it is used across all genres.

Track list Track list

• The back of an album usually consists of a track list which is a list of songs on the album. We decided to make this the centre of attention on our album cover, the use of a clear background makes it easy to read, we also but the track list as centre text & directly under the band’s name. Four singles were released from the album: "One Step Closer", "Papercut", "Crawling", and "In the End", which were responsible for Linkin Park becoming a mainstream band.

ADVERT ADVERT

An album poster is to promote the album it usually includes : •A list of the most popular track(s)•The artist’s website•A themed photo shoot•Release date•Where the album is available•A preview of the actual album

Visual image Visual image

• We wanted to make the connection between all of our media products therefore we decided to use a A4 image of our album cover; which included a faded montage of some scenes from the music video. We developed the codes and conventions as rock adverts usually have a themed photo shoot or unique images that relate to the artwork on their albums.

• Another image that is used is the preview of the actual album cover:

Date of release Date of release

We developed the codes and conventions by not giving a specific date of release, by using the words ‘out now’ in capital letters and an exclamation mark gives a sense of excitement. Also the advert says includes the #1 track One Step Closer this attracts the target audience even more and by showing that the album is available in stores and online means that the target audience can access it anytime.

Other genres such as Hip Hop give a specific date such as Kid Cudi – man of the moon:

The codes and conventions that we have used will appeal to Linkin Park’s target audience which we found were teenagers. We have used some stereotypical themes such as the narrative being about bullying but have also challenged them by not including heavy make for example. In terms of the Digipak and Digipak advert we followed most of the codes and conventions which will appeal to the target audience.