Using Conventions Essay

How has your understanding of real conventions developed over the two years?

At the start of the AS coursework i didn't have much of an understanding of media conventions. Even though we carried out preliminary tasks for both the AS and A2 work using conventions was new to most people.

The AS coursework involved creating a music magazine that had to include a front cover, contents page and double page spread. I used the convention of 'the rule of thirds' which helped with the placement of the double page spread and cover image by dividing it into three sections that the reader would be drawn to.

 By looking at existing music magazines with a similar genre to what i wanted to create, looking at websites such as 'cover junkie' and reading creative photography books i was able to gain a better understanding of what conventions i had to include in order for my end product to be successful. My front cover used conventions such as, Masthead, coverlines, image, captions and a barcode. I then followed through with these real conventions in my contents page a double page spread that included a large image stretched across the whole a3 page, a masthead inspired by 'Dazed and confused',  a kicker and columned text boxes. Some might claim that i used a bricolage style in my music magazine, as i took ideas/inspiration from a number of sources and used them in my own work. A pastiche style is also applicable as i took the 'check it out' slogan from a magazine i had looked at.

 My contents page had  a pastiche (direct copy) of NME's contents page, with the black text boxes. The contents page is likely to be the first thing a reader will look at when they open the magazine therefore i wanted it to be colourful, look realistic, and easily direct people to what they wanted to read inside. I achieved this by using the conventions taught to me through the different mediums. I tried to use the conventions as effectively as i could, however i did challenge the convention of a strap line on my front cover. I did not want to overcrowd the cover, as it would not match my minimalistic approach, therefore i chose not include this convention. Even though i deducted a convention i followed the convention of a continuous colour scheme, which added to an identifying house style. There was also an element of intertexuality as the reader will be familiar with the convention i borrowed/used from existing music magazines.

After i fully understood the conventions needed for a successful music magazine i could develop them with my creative ideas. I also thought about certain conventions i used during AS and applied it to my A2 ancillary texts. I gained information of what conventions i had to use for my digipak and advert by looking at album artwork from a variety of music genres, arty websites such as 'FFFOUND' and i also looked at existing videos on YouTube when planning the music video.

I used jumpcuts, accurate framing (rule of thirds), use of colour, lipsyncing and good styling in my music video. These conventions were easier to interpret due to already learning about conventions for a music magazine. When it came to planning and researching the music video we wanted to make something creative and something that wasn’t a direct pastiche. However we did use intertexual references such as some of the shots we used were originally used in the film ‘Project x’.   In some ways our whole music video was a parody as we did not use an original song, and we purposely used classic conventions for a dance song. Another convention that we challenged in the music video was the party mise-en-scene. Originally we wanted a crowded video, with lots going on. However what we ended up with was just two people up against the projector screen. This simplistic style of a dance genre song could be considered postmodern.

The importance of conventions links back to creativity. Without some ‘rules’ and constraints the two tasks would be completely random and not even recognised as that media product. Therefore conventions helped to create real looking media products that have meaning. Through using conventions throughout both of my tasks I have a better understanding of how and where to use them.