Draft Evaluation Question 1 -

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

Whilst creating my digipak, advert and music video, I have looked to existing products for inspiration and have chosen to emulate a variety of professional techniques, to make my products appear professional and realistic. 

Digipak -

Whilst designing my digipak, I emulated specific conventions, which I discovered from my research into existing products. 

Whilst designing my front cover, i was heavily influenced by The Arctic Monkeys CD cover from the single 'When The Sun Goes Down.' This particular front cover caught my eye because of its simplicity and ability to intrigue the audience. I wanted my digipak front cover to have the same effect on the audience and so decided to use a number of the conventions which feature on this particular cover. I opted to use a black and white, urban, grungy image as i felt that it suited both my chosen song and the overall image of my band. I then used another convention from the Arctic Monkeys cover. To me, the text positioning and overall appearance was very interesting, and suited the urban image, therefore, i opted to use this convention on my front cover. I opted to place my bands name and the album title in white boxes and positioned them in the top left corner of the page. However, here, i chose to challenge this particular convention by using a larger, bolder font, and by using a box without rounded corners. I also decided to add an image to my bands logo, to challenge this particular layout. By adding a memorable, simplistic image, in this case, a feather, i was hoping to fill unnecessary space, which was a feature i disliked about the original front cover.

Arctic Monkeys 'When The Sun Goes Down' front cover

My version of the 'When The Sun Goes Down' front cover

The second panel of my digipak features the band logo and the names of the band members, as well as their roles. Here, i opted to use the conventions which feature on the Beady Eye digipak 'The Roller.' The panel which featured on this digipak portrayed the band logo at the top of the page, with the band members and their roles below. I opted to use these techniques to give the audience a clear insight into who the band members are and what roles they play in the band, to create a familiar relationship between the audience and the band. 

'The Roller' by Beady Eye features conventions which i chose to use whilst designing the second page of my digipak.

This is the second page from my digipak. It features conventions from the 'The Roller'  I chose to use conventions such as listing the band members and their roles to create a relationship between the band and the audience,

 The third panel of my digipak features the disc or CD. Here, I opted to emulate more conventions  from the Arctic Monkeys “When The Sun Goes Down” digipak. Whilst designing my third panel, I opted to use the repetition of my bands logo and the name of the song, to add more interest to the disc. However, I also challenged this particular convention, as I chose to stretch an urban image over the entirety of the page, so that the background and disc merged together, making the overall appearance of the page neat and professional and more interesting and appealing to the audience.

Disc which features in the Arctic Monkeys 'When The Sun Goes Down' digipak

Disc which features in my digipak. Here, i have used and challenged the conventions used on the Arctic Monkeys 'When The Sun Goes Down' disc.

The fourth panel of my digipak features an image of all four band members. Although I didn't emulate this panel from an existing digipak, i did in fact emulate the style from a variety of images of indie rock band photography. I wanted to include an image of the entire band to clearly show the audience who the band are (in order to introduce each member) and to match the names which feature on panel two. 

Image of indie rock band The Arctic Monkeys.

Image of my band The Rituals. 

Whilst designing my fifth digipak panel I emulated the style of another Arctic Monkeys digipak idea, however this time, I drew my inspiration from an image used on the album “whatever people say i am, that's what i'm not”. The image is of a man smoking a cigarette and is edited in black and white. Here, I emulated and challenged this particular technique. I emulated this convention by placing my model in a similar environment, and dressed him in a similar piece of clothing, in this case, a white t-shirt.  The bands lead singer, is also smoking a cigarette and the image is also edited in black and white. However, I then decided to challenge the conventions used on the original panel and therefore created an image of the lead singer looking away from the camera, rather than straight down the lens to highlight the singers confidence, arrogance and charismatic personality, all positive connotations to portray whilst promoting a band and its new album .

Image taken from The Arctic Monkeys album cover 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not' 

Image of lead Singer Dean Welch, pictured smoking a cigarette

The sixth panel or back cover of my digipak features a variety of emulated conventions. The back cover features a variety of techniques, taken from existing indie rock back album covers. Once again, I have emulated a number of conventions from The Arctic Monkey’s ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ digipak. The use of black and white is clear to see, as is the use of an urban image, all of which are conventions taken from previously analysed digipak panels.  Features such as the use of the record label and further information has been positioned at the foot of the page, to allow the image and other, more important text to stand out. However, I have also opted to challenge the conventions of the existing digipak panel, by positioning the track list in a different style. On my panel, I have opted to place the names of each song in a clear, line, to add simplicity to the back panel, and allow the image to stand out, rather than having the track list in a somewhat jumbled style. 

Back panel of 'When The Sun Goes Down' by The Arctic Monkeys

The back panel,which features conventions from 'When The Sun Goes Down' by The Arctic Monkeys.

Advertising Poster -

Whilst designing my advertising poster, I analysed a variety of existing indie rock posters which i had discovered during my research and planning. By analysing these posters, I discovered a number of conventions which i felt suited both my band, the genre of music and the digipak.

I began by analysing a variety of Oasis poster's. These particular posters caught my eye due to their simplicity and their ability to highlight the album or single which the poster was promoting. When designing my advertising poster, I opted to emulate the overall style of these used by Oasis, and placed my bands logo at the very top of the page, and enlarged the image to make it extremely noticeable. I then opted to place my album front cover in the very centre of the page, and once again, enlarged the image to make it stand out. I then opted to place the title of the album above the image and once again used a crisp white font on a black background, to match the aesthetics used on the digipak

Although the majority of techniques used on my advertising poster are emulated from existing Oasis posters, i did in fact look elsewhere for ideas. I began searching through my research once again, and discovered a particular Miles Kane poster which i thought contained techniques which would complete my advertising poster. At this point, i was concentrating on the bottom of the page, and opted to emulate the techniques used on this particular poster. The Kane poster featured the release date, the bands website and quotes or ratings from indie rock music magazines. I opted to emulate all three of these techniques, to add extra information and to combine the techniques used on two extremely professional posters together. 

Miles Kane Advertising Poster. 

My final advertising poster, which features conventions from both Oasis posters as well as the Miles Kane poster, pictured above.

Music Video -

I watched videos from bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, Beady Eye, Kasabian and The Courteeners and quickly discovered which technique I wanted to use. The first convention which i immediately wanted to use was the use of black and white. By watching a number of indie rock music videos, i discovered that this particular technique is tried and tested and has been proved to work. Videos such as “R U Mine?” and “One for the Road” by the arctic monkeys inspired me massively whilst deciding upon this, as I felt that the black and white technique added a certain edge to the footage. 

Also, the lack of colour added mystery to the band and allows the viewer to draw many different connotations about the artists which are featuring in the video.  Another technique which I discovered whilst analysing the Oasis video ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ was the use behind the scenes footage. In this particular video, the band is pictured both on stage and behind the scenes, partaking in various activities. I wanted to use this technique to add personality to the video, and portray to the audience the character of the band. I also wanted to emulate this technique to add a certain authenticity to the video, and portray the bands working class persona.