1. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challengeforms and conventions of real mediaproducts?

2. What are the forms and conventions of a childrens magazine? During the research stage of my coursework, I had to analyse the front covers of a variety of childrens magazines. The reason for this was to find out the forms andconventions of this type of product, in order to use this in my own product.I analysed three magazine front covers from the following childrens TV series: Tracey Beaker, Dr Who and Hannah Montana.Here is the analysis work that I completed in order to find out about the codes andconventions of childrens magazines Please click hereAfter completing this analysis work, I decided it would be a good idea to summarisemy findings to determine the main features I would need to use in my product. Here is the work I completed in order to summarise my findings Please click here 3. Magazine logo at the One main image of top of the page the main charactersA variety ofBright, vibrantfont colourscoloursand sizes The key forms andA lure/free gift conventions of a childrens Catchyor competition magazine front cover coverlines Smaller images Coverlines mainly on therelating to coverlines left hand side of the page One main font stylePrice, issue numberused throughout and barcode 4. How are these conventions used in my magazine front cover? Magazine logo at the top of the pageCatchy coverlinesA lure/free gift or competition Bright, vibrant colours One main font styleused throughout One main image ofthe main characters A variety of font coloursPrice, issue numberand sizesand barcode 5. What are the forms and conventions of a childrens DVD cover? During the research stage of my coursework, I had to analyse the front covers of a variety of childrens DVD covers. The reason for this was to find out the forms andconventions of this type of product, in order to use this in my own product.I analysed three DVD front covers from the following childrens TV series: TraceyBeaker, Zack and Cody and Wizards of Waverly PlaceHere is the analysis work that I completed in order to find out about the codes and conventions of childrens DVD coversPlease click hereAfter completing this analysis work, I decided it would be a good idea to summarisemy findings to determine the main features I would need to use in my product. Here is the work I completed in order to summarise my findingsPlease click here 6. DVD logo at the top of One main image of the pagethe main charactersA variety of Bright, vibrantfont colours coloursand sizes The key forms andSeries information conventions of a childrensClear and DVD coverorganised Logo of the channel A central focus to theor distributer page One main font styleRating informationused throughoutand barcode 7. How are these conventions used in myDVD cover?Series informationDVD logo at the top ofthe page A variety of font coloursOne main font styleand sizes used throughout A central focus to the page Bright, vibrant coloursOne main image ofClear and the main characters organised Rating information Logo of the channeland barcodeor distributer 8. How have the forms and conventionsbeen used in the ancillary tasks? In my ancillary tasks, I tried to follow as many conventions of similar products aspossible. I felt that this would make my products more appealing to the target audience and would make them fit into the market of similar products. When comparing my DVD cover to a DVD cover aimed at a similar target audience, the similarities are immediately clear. This is due to the fact thatthe products both share similar conventions. Both products have one image of the main characters in the centre. The text is centred around this. There is minimal text and logos to show the rating anddistributer of the programme. This is the reason I chose to follow as many conventions as possible.In my opinion, it was important to follow most of the conventions with my ancillarytasks. This would have a positive effect on the audience, as it would make themmore interested in buying a product that is similar to others but with an importantdifference. The important difference is obviously the programme that the productsare representing. 9. What are the forms and conventions of a childrens TV opening sequence?During the research stage of my coursework, I had to analyse the opening sequences of a variety of childrens TV programmes. The reason for this was to find out theforms and conventions of this type of product, in order to use this in my ownproduct. I analysed three TV programme openings from the following childrens TV series:Sleepover Club, Zeke and Luther and Sabrina the Teenage WitchHere is the analysis work that I completed in order to find out about the codes andconventions of childrens TV opening sequences Please click hereAfter completing this analysis work, I decided it would be a good idea to summarisemy findings to determine the main features I would need to use in my product. Here is the work I completed in order to summarise my findings Please click here 10. Conventions of cameraworkFrom researching into similar audio-visual products, I found some key conventions in the camerawork of the products. These include: minimal camera movement, avariety of shot types and usually a close up of each main character. In my product, I tried to follow the camerawork conventions as I felt they make the video flow better and present products the way I want mine to be presented.This is an example of how I followed the convention of using a variety of camera shots in my filming. There is a long-shot, a mid-shot and a close-up. One convention I chose to break within the camera work of my product was the useof zoom. In the videos I analysed, there was not a lot of zooms used. However, in my film it was an easy way of getting the close up of each character at the end of theirscene. I think the zoom in to a close up adds emphasis to this camera and it was agood choice to break this convention. The zooms are not very noticeable and they fitin quite naturally to the video. 11. Conventions of soundFrom researching into similar audio-visual products, I found some key conventions in the sound of the products. These include: a cool and upbeat theme tune, no othersound apart from the theme tune. In some examples, the theme tune has lyricswhich relate to the programme.In my product, I decided to follow the convention of having no other sound apart from the theme tune. The theme tune I chose was quite upbeat and childlike. The theme tune connotes ideas of happiness and fun I chose not to have a theme tune with lyrics. I felt this would not appeal to myparticular target audience. Also, I would have had to make the song myself as to prevent copyright laws from any lyrics or sounds used. This would have been very challenging and I felt I would have had to sacrifice the quality of my product. This is not a very popular convention and there are still many existing similar productsthat use theme tunes with no words. 12. Conventions of editingFrom researching into similar audio-visual products, I found some key conventions in the editing of the products. These include: a variety of cuts and wipes, fade to black/white at the end, fast paced editing.At the end of my video, instead of fading to black or white Idecided to fade to the logo of my programme. I thought this would be more interesting for the audience and would finish myvideo in a better way, this is why I broke the convention. These are examples of the variety of wipes and cuts I used in my video. I followedthe convention of using a variety of editing techniques. The reason for this is because the different techniques make the video more fun and interactive for children. It stops the video being boring and splits up the different settings. 13. Conventions of mise-en scene From researching into similar audio-visual products, I found some key conventions inthe sound of the products. These include: each character having an individual stylereflecting their personality and their mise-en scene reflecting this. During my filming, this was the most important convention that I wanted to follow. Each character has their own section of the video which represents and introducesthem as a person. This is also reflected by the characters chosen colour.This is an example of the colour reflectingthe character. The popular girl has pinkand the cool boy has blue (stereotypical). This screen shot shows how the conventions of mise-en scene were used in my video. In this example, thesporty character is on a school field (a setting whichrelates to the character), they are wearing sports kit (a costume the relates to the character) and they are doing a sporting activity (an action that relates to thecharacter). I have done this with all of the characters inthe opening showing that this convention is veryimportant and I have followed it carefully. 14. Shared conventions of my productMy final audio-visual product shares many conventions with the similar product The Sleepover club.The conventions that the two products share are listed below. Some of the main conventions are explained in more detail on the next slide. The characters are introduced as a group and as individuals A variety of shot types are used A variety of editing transitions are used between scenes Both products have a catchy upbeat theme tune Each character has their own colour The mise-en scene for each character is distinct and represents their personality Both videos show the logo of the programme at the end The settings of both products relate to the programme A mixture of male and female characters are used The length of the videos are between 1min-1min 30 sec Both videos make good use of mise-en scene to introduce the characters Bright, vibrant colour schemes are used 15. Conventions in my final productMy product can be compared to the example product easily. This is because is have used similar conventions in order to make my product fit in with other products. Both videos introduce the main characters as a group and as individuals. This is done by using a variety of close ups, longshots and mid- shots. The mise-en scene for both videos is very similar, for example the colours foreach character. I also chose to develop this convention by showing eachcharacter performing an action reflecting their personality. An example ofthis would be the sporty character, AJ, playing with a football. One differenceis the lyrics in the theme tune in the example product. This is one convention I chose to break as it did not fit in with my product. Both opening sequences make use ofinteresting and fun transitionsbetween shots. This appeals to the target audience and interests them. 16. In what ways does your media productuse, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products? When producing my ancillary and main tasks, I have tried to follow as manyconventions as possible. The reason for this is to make my products fit in withsimilar products. I have broken some conventions in making my products. Forexample, in my video I chose to use a theme tune without lyrics. The reason for thiswas because I felt it did not fit in with my product. In my ancillary task of themagazine, I also chose to break the convention of having coverlines on the left hand side. This was because my image was more central and it did not look good. I have also developed some conventions in making my products. In the mise-en scene of similar products, it is common for each character to have their costume, setting and colour scheme reflecting their personality. I developed this convention by also having each character performing an action which relates to theirpersonality. This allowed the audience to get to know the characters better, and therefore feel more involved in the programme. Overall, I think my media products use, develop and challenge forms andconventions of real media products very well. I have used the conventions of similarproducts to produce three high quality products that fit in with the needs of the target audience