Explain how you have used, devolved or challenged conventions of real media products in your coursework productions

Across my 3 productions, I constantly used challenged and developed conventions of real media products. Real media products being, productions that are constantly being produced within the music industry.

My music video immediately challenges the conventions of real media products by its location. The location is at a skate park and from the shots used looks to be a very rural area. In the background there are woods and fields, even sheep feature in the music video. This challenges the basic conventions for a music video, as artists often like to associate themselves within an urban area, thus connoting stature and fame. My CD package doesn’t continue the same path but does challenge conventions in a different way. The CD package has a more urban setting of a school but it is the atmosphere and feeling of the CD that challenges conventions. Throughout the package it creates quite a dark and mysterious feel which is created by the chiaroscuro lighting. This isn't usually associated with the indie-pop genre. Looking through CD artwork examples within a similar genre such as ‘The Twang’ and ‘The Wombats’ they both have a colourful cover artwork which suggests a happy and jolly mood. This is therefore going against the conventions of the genre.

My final production, the advert, gives off a mysterious look as the main image has a very low contrast of a skater under a light. Whilst challenging the conventions of real media products the mystery would make audiences want to discover the uniqueness of it. The CD package and advert are very conventional in the way they are set out. The front shows the artist and title and then back has track listings and small print. By keeping strictly to these basic conventions it makes it clear to audiences. The advert is similar and again has the artist and title, as well as release data and ratings. These are often seen amongst adverts.

The skateboarding feature develops conventions as it has been done before but not as such a male role throughout a package. In the music video the skateboarding clips almost feature as a substitute for the more conventional, narrative. The video develops the sub genre, indie-pop by the fashion the performers in the music video is a casual indie look. This was influenced from the bands actual look. I discovered this via their Myspace page and seeing the band live. I developed the look into my own casual look that didn’t contrast with the skater look which also features in the music video. I developed the idea of bringing skateboarding into the sub-genre of indie-pop. Skateboarding is usually associated with this sort of genre but within the productions, it worked well. At the beginning of the music I used stop motion which was a good way to introduce the piece. The name of the song fly in and which allows the audience to know the song title.

The music video uses lots of conventions of real media products. This was an obvious option so the audience understood that the production was a music video. Firstly I used a conventional option of including a performance shots throughout the music video. Within the performance shots there is a real focus on the lead singer. This is a focus I created because of the importance of him. This was a major part of my planning and his clothes connote his importance. To get this message across I used low angle shots to signify him being looked up to. Also the variety of quick shots adds pace to the production which is a strong convention amongst real media products. Amongst this fast quick shot editing, there is little camera movement. Instead a variety of different and obscure shots high and low angle in particular are a massive part of the production.

Pace of a music video is often related with the song itself for fast tempo and more electronic songs such as a drum and bass, the music videos tend to be quicker and often disorientating. A good example of this is Aphex Twin’s, Come to Daddy music video. For the genre I have used, Indie-pop this sort of pace would be unnecessary which is why the music video is at quite a slow tempo. Many music videos of the same and similar genres use this sort of pace because it fits the tempo and style of the music. The Twang’s, Barney’s Rubble has a similar tempo as the Blighters song I have done and the pace in between the two music videos is very similar.

Overall I have used, developed and challenged conventions of real media products within my own production. I have mostly used conventions of media products. This keeps my three productions more understandable and conventional to audiences. Without using a lot of conventions the products may not be represented as what they are by audiences. By challenging some of the conventions related with my productions such as the extremely rural location. It gives the products uniqueness and therefore being different to other products in the market. Developing the ideas of certain conventions again gives the productions something to be renown for. But by developing the conventions its still keeps the products conventional in there own way.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Age: 16-20 21-25 26-30

Gender: Female Male

Did you enjoy the music video?

Yes/No

Why?

Does the skateboarding work with the genre?

Yes/No

Why?

Do you think the video creates a good representation of the genre?

Yes/No

Why?

Does the advert appeal to you? Yes/ No

How?

Mark out of 10 for the CD package?

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10)

Do you think that the 3 products link together well? Yes No

Explain why?

This is the questionnaire I posted onto my social networking site Facebook along with a link to the music video and my CD cover and advert. I had 12 responses in total and this gave me a greater knowledge on how audiences felt about my productions. The sample that answered these questions were from 16-18 there were 5 female and 7 male.

The first question was simply ‘Did you enjoy the music video?’. 11 of the 12 said they did enjoy the music video. A couple commented saying it was ‘Fun to watch’ This is a statement I would agree with as the video has elements of comic value in it. The one out stander who answered ‘No’ said ‘It started well but got a little tedious’. This comment made me think about how I could have created a narrative or/and use more than the one location used. The enjoyment of a music video is obviously a massive factor for a successful production and my results have proved that it is enjoyable.

The second question I asked was ‘Does the skateboarding fit with the genre?’ This again was a highly favoured question with a positive outcome. The 12 responses had 9 people saying ‘Yes’. One comment ‘If you had played me just the track and asked me the question I would have probably said no, but it does fit well yes. This comment was similarly answered by a couple of others. This tells me that the genre wouldn’t usually be associated with skateboarding but audiences have said that they say it still fits well. So the 3 that said 'no', I can understand because I have developed the conventions of the genre and in their opinions it has not worked. This was a likely outcome but only a small percentage disagreed with the question.

The third question was about representation of the genre. ‘Do you think the video creates a good representation of the genre?’ As I wrote this question, my initial thoughts where that the representation of the genre wouldn't go down well with audiences as the genre indie-pop has a very individual and unique look to it which my music video develops and often challenges. 5 out of the 12 said it created a good representation of the genre. From the comments I learnt that they felt it gave a good representation in comparison to the real representation of the genre there seem to be a brighter happier mood about the video. For example ‘Its not a realistic representation but the development works.‘ Most answers came across as their appeal of a better development of the genre, rather than whether it created a realistic representation of the genre.

Overall my music video has had a positive outcome with my audience but I have also learnt ways to improve the video. My sample group enjoyed the music video and thought it worked well with the genre even though it challenged the genre. The representation question could have been answered differently because many answered as whether it was a realistic representation, where as some answered with it created a good representation.

I asked my sample group whether they found the advert appealing. My responses were again positive with 9 out of the 12 saying they found it appealing. A couple of males in the audience found it appealing simply because of the skateboarding. For example ‘I love skateboarding and it looks a heavy feature within the advert and CD cover’. Using skateboarding amongst my productions creates an appeal to a new audience, skaters. Other comments such as ‘the Q magazine rating appealed’ Again by using a rating by a big magazine creates a good reputation for the band. . I then asked ‘Mark out of 10 for the CD package and why?’ My responses averaged 7.6 out of 10. The graph below shows my results. Unsurprisingly the lower scores were females and as the main target audience is mostly male because of the use of a heavily male dominated sport, Skateboarding. This grungy street life in the dark wouldn't normally be associated with the female gender. The audiences that enjoy this are split, the male gender create aspirations whereas females enjoy the aesthetics of them .However the ratings were relatively good with 2 people rating it a 9. Comments from the lower scores were: ‘The inside shots are a bit plain’ and ‘Its all the same throughout’ Looking at my print productions I can see that there inside shots are possibly plain and ordinary. To change this I could have used lyrics or other of the bands information.

The final question relates to my earlier evaluation question about the link between my products. I asked, Do you think the 3 products link together well? All of my 12 responses were Yes. As shown in my evaluation question, I made sure that all of my productions had a strong link between them. I did this to create a recognisable image and house for the band. The majority of the comments were about how they liked the way skateboarding was a main feature throughout the products as well as the use of font on the front cover. ‘Using a band member within all of the products help to recognise the bands products’

Overall my feedback has taught me the strengths and weaknesses of my productions. I have agreed with the strengths for example the use of skateboarding. The skateboarding was favourable with the majority of my audience. I have also realised what I could have done differently, Challenging the conventions of any genre is always risky and in my case it mostly worked. There is always going to be audiences who don't like the change as a few of my sample audience proved. My overall view on the feedback is a positive one as the responses were highly rated.

Original images of CD package

This is the original image which i used for the front cover of my CD artwork.

This is the original image which I used for the inside of my CD

This is also the original image which i used for the inside of my CD and the image for my advert.

This is the original image which i used for the back of my CD.

How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Media technologies are a major part of construction, research and planning, and the evaluation stages so they played a big part in the creation of my productions.

The first part of my production was to find an unsigned band to promote their song. I used the internet such for bands and especially used Myspace. The website promotes bands and allows you to listen to their music and see pictures. Within the construction of the productions a lot of planning and research was done in different ways which involved media technology. The first part of my planning was location scouting; to do this I used a digital camera to take a picture of the locations. Once I found a location we experimented with different angles and shot types which were then uploaded to our blog. The blog is another media technology which has become a vital part of the whole media course. The blog allows me to upload any work to the Internet for everyone to see, I can upload pictures, videos as well as presentations. I uploaded my videos and pictures of the skate park, the location of my video. Below is a screen shot from my blog and it shows a simple diagram with a video below. Again using media technologies of software to create the diagrams.

Researching and planning into the print productions I used the Internet to get images of album covers. I also took photos on my Blackberry, of the CD interiors and uploaded them straight from there to my blog.

Filming the music video I used a video camera and once filmed I captured the footage to a school computer ready for editing. To edit I used Adobe Premier Elements. I firstly added the mp3 to the project and from there I could sync the footage to the track. I experimented with the contrast on the footage as some shots were darker than others, by doing this I could create a consistent image for the production.


With the construction of the CD package and advert I used a digital camera to take all of my photography. I then put the images into Photoshop to edit my images. Photoshop allows for a use of layers and therefore easy editing. I looked around for fonts that I could use for the title, that would link with the music video. When looking through Google’s editing software ‘Picasa’ I found the font ‘Earwig Factory’ which has received positive responses in my audience feedback.

For the evaluation I had to export all of my final productions. I used Adobe Premier Elements to export the music video to a windows movie video and I exported my print production on Photoshop. After having my final copies I uploaded them to my blog.

Overall media technologies have been an important feature in the creation of my productions. Without these technologies the creativity could not be put across as well as a final copy. Software such as Photoshop and Premier Elements allows for clever effects to be made possible. This creativity is mostly created by the Internet. The internet offers a wide range of information, opinionated and factual.

CD cover and Advert

Here is my CD package and Advert.

Media Investigation

In what ways has the music industry reacted to piracy?

Context

Why have you chosen to research this topic?

I have chosen to look into this topic because I am interested to learn when and how piracy first became a serious issue. In the process, I can learn about the schemes involved in reducing piracy such as Spotify and Virgin Media. Then by looking into each scheme I can see how successful and effective each has been and then I can look into the reasons behind this. I can also look at the different ways of getting music illegally and how the music industry is fighting against this practice.

Why is it Interesting?

Piracy is a hugely wide and effective concept within the media industry and it will be interesting comparing the reasons behind the successes of the schemes which have tried to reduce its effect. New schemes are also being produced and researching there development and intentions will be interesting to see if they will work and make a noticeable difference in the statistics. I am also keen to see if music piracy is going to carry on being a massive problem in the music industry in the future.

Why is it relevant at this point in time?

At this point in time, music piracy is at the highest it has ever been. There is now a big reaction from associations such as the BPI and CIAA and the music industry in general. A new scheme in particular that has recently been introduced is Spotify, which has been a big hit so far. There has also been big debate about the company Pirate Bay, a large illegal file sharing website has recently been closed down which has been a massive step in reducing piracy.

Research

I made a questionnaire which I put up on a social networking site, Facebook. This way I could have all my answers digitally and it was easier for people to fill in, so it made it easier for everyone. By doing primary research I was able to gather accurate and relevant data.

Here is the questionnaire I posted onto Facebook

Questionnaire

Here is my questionnaire –

Age: 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 40+

Gender: Female Male

Occupation: Student (School/College) University Student Unemployed Employed

What is you favorite genres of music, Chose 4 at the most:
Rock Alternative Indie R&B Pop Jazz Metal Classical Techno Reggae Hip Hop Folk Punk Soul Drum ’n’ Bass Dance

How you get your music normally?
CD
Internet downloads, Eg. iTunes
Vinyl
Illegal Downloads, Eg Limewire
If other please specify:

Do you use different ways of purchasing different genres?, Eg Certain genres not on Itunes

How often do you like watch music video TV channels?
Every day
3 times+ a week
1 time+ a week
Once a month
Never

How often do you listen to radio?
Every day
3 times+ a week
1 time+ a week
Once a month
Never

Do you use music sharing websites to listen to music over the internet? (If yes, please state) Yes/No
YouTube Spotify Last F.M Others………………………………………..

Please circle any of the below that you own at the moment:
Mp3/MP4/iPod
CD player
Vinyl record player
Radio
Computer/Laptop
Mobile phone

Do you attended concerts or gigs? Yes No
If yes, how often do you usually see in a year?
…………………………………………….

Do you ever go onto a bands/artists web page over the internet? Yes No

Do you use websites like Q, MTV or NME to keep up-to-date with the music industry? Yes No

Do you buy music from retail stores? All the time/ Often/ Rarely/ Never

How do you find out about new artists and music?
The Internet (YouTube/ iTunes etc.)
Radio
Music Magazines
Word of Mouth/friends
Live Gigs
Other please specify:

Results.

My results had common patterns throughout, most were expected but some I found surprising. The age ranges include similar answers in particular topics such as gigs and how often radio was listened to. It was interesting to find how certain genres affect the way of how people consume and acquire their music. Certainly around the dance genre I found music was mostly acquired by vinyl. This way it can be used for ‘Djing’ or mixing which is a common craze and hobby at the moment.

Here are the results for the way in which people get their music

As you can see, over half use illegal downloading to acquire there music where as only 14% of people use CD to get their music. The number of illegal down loaders did not massively surprise me but the limited CD users did. Overall within my questionnaire it shows that just over half of the people illegal downloads and the other half get their music legally.

Evaluate.

After looking into my results I have found patterns within them. I have found people often turn to illegal downloading because they can’t get the music anywhere else. People have also stated that the smaller bands that may be unsigned are hard to purchase legally. This again causes them to download on sites such as Lime wire.

Another pattern I found in my answers interested me and it was something I had looked into before. The answer to the question ‘How do you get your music?’ was answered simply, “I don’t, I use Spotify”. This interested me because Spotify has been labelled as a piracy solver. If people are using Spotify to listen to their music mostly people find they no longer need to buy music. So yes it stops people downloading illegally but it also stops people from going out and purchasing the CD’s or downloading from Itunes. From these results it shows that Spotify could be having some negative impact on the music industry.

Looking at how vinyl is a popular way of listening to music because of the latest trends and crazes. My results showed me that people who buy vinyl don’t download illegally. There are ways of getting music to vinyl illegally but this is a long process including an expensive piece of equipment. It happens, but quite rarely and the vinyl business is at a healthy state at the moment.

My results also enabled me to discover how often they are attended, mostly the younger age ranges such as 16-20. This is another way of bands/artists making money, not forgetting other ways such as advertising. Music fans are getting music for free but gigs still allow bands to make a lot of money. The artists may be making less money because of piracy but this still produces a good amount of money. In the future if piracy continues to be as bad as it supposedly is at the moment, bands may be forced to double the amount of concerts they do or even ask for more money per gig. This has a chain reaction on the whole music industry and its fans. The honest fans that don’t download illegally may then see a rise in cost for concerts and shows because of the selfish illegal ‘downloaders’. This is unfair on the fans who have bought legal copies of artists material.

Argument/ findings/ conclusions

When did the music industry actually start to react to piracy?

Statistics around the millennium proved there was a growing decline in music sales. Between 1999 and 2002 music sales had reduced by 31% which was primarily down to piracy. The industry then started to react by licensing download software such as Itunes. More and more ways of downloading legally are becoming available such as Amazon and MP3.com

At the moment lots of new ideas and schemes are being produced but there is continuing to be more and more ways of getting music illegally. There still isn’t a scheme out there which will single handily wipe out music piracy.

Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay was a Swedish website which allowed users to illegally download and file share through the use of .torrent files and BitTorrent. Pirate Bay was used mainly for music but also had Videos, Applications and Games. The site was funded from adverts, donations and merchandise.

Many Countries such as Denmark, China, Italy and the UK have either completely blocked access or have created a limited access to the site.

The company has been under attack by the Piracy Protection Agency for over a year due to copyright laws. A court case in February failed after the creators claimed that they couldn’t be prosecuted because none of the content is hosted on their computer server. On April 17th all 4 Pirate Bay workers were found guilty of assistance to copyright infringement. This had them put in prison for a year and given a fine of 30 million SEK which is around £2,385,000. In the sites defence they claim that the site can be used legally as well as illegally. One of the creators compared the site to ''making cars that can be driven faster than the speed limit".

The website is offline and has been since the court case, however the Global Gaming Factory X AB have expressed the intentions to buy the website and the deal should go ahead in September.

Lime wire

Lime wire is the most installed file sharing/ Peer 2 Peer site on the Internet and is therefore affecting the music industry massively. Unlike ‘Pirate Bay’, Lime Wire can be used legally. This means that the site cannot be shut down. However, a user is very limited to what they can do by using it legally. Unsigned bands can be purchased on Lime wire legally but any copyrighted music file or document downloaded is illegal.

After these programmes and sites have had a huge effect on the music industry companies such as virgin media put in new schemes to help with reducing piracy. As well as this new schemes were made such as Spotify as well as it being a scheme to reduce piracy it is a business as the creators of Spotify make money from it as well.

Virgin Media

Virgin Media last year stated it was to begin a crackdown on illegal file sharing of copyright material. They did this by sending a letter of warning to its broadband users if they were caught file sharing. The British Phonographic Industry was the company which informed Virgin about the wrongdoing of its customers.

The BBC reported that 800 users had been sent a letter of warning by Virgin by July 2008 which was only 3 months after the scheme was set up.

Spotify

Spotify is a programme which allows a user to stream music instantly at a high speed. This enables them to listen to music of there choice instantly. There are different versions of the programme such as a free version, a day pass version and a premium version. The better the version the greater access you have. A direct link is set up on each song or album which allows a user to buy the song via partner retailers such as '7Digital

Lots of top Artists have backed the programme for example Jamie Cullum who said “You can’t prosecute a 12-year-old boy for illegally downloading a record. You just have to make it easier for him not to.”

The founders of Spotify spent a lot of time researching what goes on over the internet and found that internet users don't mind not having the physical CD but just want easy access whenever and wherever they want. Spotify gives a user this and has so far been a success since starting up.

Since Spotify was created there has been a decrease in illegal downloads. A July survey of 1,000 UK music fans suggested that illegal downloads and file sharing of audio content had decreased to 17 per cent in January 2009 from 22 per cent in December 2007. Although this may not all be because of Spotify it suggests it has played a big part in reducing piracy.

Organisations

Organisations within the music industry give help and support to all schemes and events that are trying to reduce piracy.

The Recording Industry Association of America is an organisation committed to helping the music business. They give support to the record companies that create, manufacture and distribute some 85 percent of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold.

Their view on piracy is that it is 'bad news'. They say 'While the term Piracy is constantly used it doesn’t even begin to describe what is taking place.' Like many companies trying to solve piracy they go on to say that 'illegal downloading of music is just as wrong as shoplifting from a local convenience store’. For every artist you can name at the top of the Billboard music charts, there is a long line of songwriters, sound engineers, and label employees who help create those hits'

That is however in America, but there is a British version, the BPI. The British Phonographic Industry looks upon trade in the music industry. It main aim is to fight copyright infringement.

The UK’s music market is the third biggest in the world and BPI’s members are equivalent to 90% of that which includes the big four major record labels. The main objective is simple to help British music thrive.

The BPI have recently claimed that Digital singles now account for 95% of the market, selling 110 million copies in 2008 (42% up on 2007) and 10 million digital albums were sold - 65% up on the previous year.

‘Next year's statistics will be interesting, as the effects of services like Spotify, and LastFM are likely to start to be felt in the numbers. Analysts believe that with over a million UK residents using Spotify, digital sales figures could soon begin to dip once more, due to the "access VS ownership" trend’

Overall organisations are helping in everyway possible to reduce piracy. They also are producing statistics which proves their successes. With the recent schemes produced such as Spotify it is no wonder these organisations are looking forward to producing next years stats.

Piracy has affected the music industry so much that artists are thinking about stopping making music because they can’t actually make any money from it. Most recently Lily Allen, announced on her blog on Twitter that ‘Just so you know, I have not renegotiated my record contract and have no plans to make another record’. Lily felt that there is no longer money to be made in the music industry because piracy has got so bad. This shows the extreme impact piracy is having on the music industry and if it doesn’t reduce many more artist could end their music careers like Lily.

Implications for your own production

If ‘Blighters’ were to develop a stronger fan base through posting their music onto sites such as ‘YouTube’ and ‘Yahoo Music’, audiences could stream their music for free. These sites are becoming extremely popular with music fans. Radio is another effective outlet for up and coming British bands. Radio stations such as Future Radio in Norwich have slots that give unsigned bands an opportunity to air their material. This is a good way of exposing the band to a wider audience.

Having more demand for the bands music would mean they would be more likely to become victims of piracy.

After developing a strong fan base ‘Blighters’ would need to get Copyright© for all of their material to avoid people stealing their music. Without Copyright© protection downloading music isn’t actually illegal and therefore not piracy. However even with Copyright© it doesn’t stop piracy as illegal downloading cannot be stopped completely but it does reduce it. If the band became mainstream, there would be a greater demand for their music and therefore piracy would seriously affect their sales and income.

As it is cheaper to download music legally, the band’s CDs would need to be competitively priced. Record labels and artists such as ‘Blighters’ are looking to produce cheaper promotional material which they distribute across the internet. The Internet is a huge and cheaper option of distribution and is therefore becoming a more popular option to the Industry.

Having more demand for the bands music would mean they would be more likely to become victims of piracy.

Bibliography

http://www.bpi.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimeWire

http://www.riaa.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay

Advert

This is the advert I have created to sell the bands single, 'Boys in motion'. I have used an image which has a similar feature to that of the package itself, with a skater with his board in typical skaters hang out. The advert features a 5 star rating from a music magazine to boost its reputation, as well as the Spotify and Itunes logos to inform the audience of its availability. The bottom left includes and release date and a small thumb nail image of the actual cover art used for the single.