Using Conventions from Real Media Texts The purpose of my AS task was to create a text that would fit

with the indie genre (as this was my chosen genre) by entertaining them, looking like how they would like and by writing about things they would care about. The purpose of my A2 task was again to create texts that would fit in with their audience by fitting in with the indie genre through styling, colours, themes, editing, song choice and layout. I did this through styling band members, from my magazine at AS and in my video at A2, in an indie way so that the audience would be able to relate to them. I also chose to use colours which I felt would fit in with the genre, although there are no obvious colours that the genre would relate to it was easier to omit colours that they defiantly wouldnt so I chose to omit pinks/purples or anything that could come across too girly and also blacks/navys/reds or anything that would come across to dark or serious. In terms of theme I kept a vintage/homemade feel up throughout my magazine, digipak, advert and video that would be something indie fans would also be able to relate to. This idea was similar through editing as this was how I created the theme initially and any layouts again aided the homemade feel. The song choice for the music video was obviously a huge thing that targeted the audience as it had to fit in with the genre otherwise it wouldnt be consistent and consequently wouldnt really make sense. Therefore I chose The Vaccines Wreckin Bar which easily fits into the indie category. My target audience was people, both male and female, aged between 16-25, who enjoy music and fashion- primarily of the indie/alternative variety. The main way I attracted this audience within my magazine was by the inclusion of band names from the genre on the cover e.g. Bombay Bicycle Club, Mumford & Sons etc and also through the styling of the people photographed, so they wore skinny jeans, shirts etc. In my video the main way I attracted the audience was through the song choice that was fitting within the indie category that I was trying to attract. The styling was again important and mirrored the music. Also was the whole theme of the video having a homemade aspect that I felt would attract the audience as it has proven effective in existing texts within the genre already e.g. Always Like This by Bombay Bicycle Club and A-Punk by Vampire Weekend. I used intertextuality within the magazine by referencing other bands on the cover and on the contents and also by creating my cover artist Ellie like an existing artist (she was based on and very similar to the likes of Marina from Marina and the Diamonds, mainly through styling). In my video intertextuality could be found from the similarities in locations found between my video and Bombay Bicycle Clubs Always Like This. The idea of bricolage could be presented through the idea of having a three coloured colour scheme on my magazine however rather than adhering to the conventional black/white/red found in most music videos, such as NME, Q, Rolling Stone and Kerrang, by using colours inspired from cosmetics instead (my colour scheme was heavily inspired from Benefit cosmetics) to have a three coloured colour scheme of orange/pale blue/white.

The idea of pastiche can be shown through almost the entirety of my magazine, digipak and advert as the layout and conventions are all based on existing texts that I researched. This was so that they looked believable and professional however meant that they were copying existing conventions (for example, in my magazine I used a masthead at the centre at the top, I used one main dominating image and I included the idea of the rule of thirds and also the golden spiral, however these were all existing ideas meaning that my work was in no way original). Both of my pieces of coursework were aimed at the genre of indie however they also had elements of pop because many of the bands I referenced were also mainstream despite their indie style. Also offered within my work which I labelled as indie was alternative such as Crystal Fighters and folk such as Mumford & Sons and rock such as Arctic Monkeys or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Therefore the genre I was aiming at was in fact a hybrid as it wasnt exclusively only obviously indie bands that I included and considered. My music video took on a non linear narrative as it doesnt follow an obvious story and literally just consists of a mix of events which are purely to show the band having fun, as this was the persona we wanted our band the have- we didnt want them to come across too serious. An example where I used OSullivans theory of not only considering what goes into a product but also what Im taking out includes on my magazine where for the cover image I edited out some hair that was over Ellies face. This was to create the idea that she was perfect as many cover images try to make the person they are starring look flawless. This in turn may make the audience look up to or aspire to be them- even though in reality this perfection is false. Similarly in my music video we omitted clips where the band werent acting convincingly as this would tarnish their image of being light hearted and fun. Vertical montage can be seen to create juxtaposition on my magazine cover from the black and white cover image to the blue and orange text as it creates a contrast. This idea was composed by Sergi Einstein. I agree with the statement It is impossible to create a media product that is entirely original as everything is borrowed or inspired from elsewhere and generally always adheres to at least some existing conventions. Despite me thinking this I dont feel like it hindered me in anyway as inspiration has to come from somewhere and it is easier to come by an existing text that you can take from rather than coming up with something just in your mind that would have to based on nothing else for it to be truly original- a near impossible task. Therefore I feel that my creativity was only enhanced through research which allowed me to alter existing ideas to make them my own. I disagree with the statement creativity is always constrained by generic conventions as I dont feel conventions hindered my creativity in any way, as it was optional to follow them, there was always the option to do your own thing. However by doing your own thing it would probably just be harder to justify

and pull off so is often useful to have conventions to come back to and to help guide your work.