Evaluation Question 1

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

Before starting the creation and planning of two of my products I researched and analysed similar real products that could inspire and develop my ideas. Before starting my video, I watched a scene from Back to the Future which contains a chase between Marty and Biff through the town square; this scene involves a lot of fast paced running action, which was very similar to my ideas at the time. By watching this clip I was able to grasp on to some of the basic camera angles and shots that I needed to use in my video. In developing these various shots and ideas that I had gotten from the scenes I drew up a storyboard to the song I had chosen (Shoot the Runner- Kasabian) containing approximate timings, camera angles and sketches making it easier to visualise. In order to make my video more conventional I tried to make cuts and shots precise to the beat and rhythm of the music. I also ensured that I had credits at the beginning and the end of the video. At the beginning of the video I had titles showing the name of the song and the name of the band, the ending of the video contained credits showing the actors who starred in the video and the names of the director and editor.

For the DVD cover that I made I looked at the ‘Foo Fighters’ DVD cover for their ‘Everywhere but home’ tour. I chose this because the band Foo Fighters is of a similar genre to the one that I had chosen for my band ‘Archway’. By looking and analysing this cover I was able to get an idea of how to create a realistic and conventional cover. By looking at this cover it became obvious what I needed to make a realistic cover: images, a short blurb and reviews. I also needed a credits banner where I would write the names of everyone involved in the production of the DVD. Looking at the DVD also gave me an plan of what logos and titles I needed to have on the cover. These included conventional logos such as age certificates and the logos of the Production Company and record label. Looking at this DVD gave me an insight into how to make my product conventional and realistic to the genre of the band and to the media form.