RMT essay

In media texts, conventions play an important role in allowing the audience to be able to recognise the genre of the text. Conventions can also be broken as a response to the predictability of use of these elements in a genre, or to stand out from other products of the genre, potentially developing the genre further.

In AS, my brief was to create a music magazine focusing on a genre of our choice. To complete this successfully, I had to identify conventions in magazines related to the genre of my chosen genre (rock music) as well as the conventions of magazine design. This research was essential to the creation of my final outcome, as it allowed me to recognise the elements which are used to make my publication recognisable as part of it’s genre, and how conventions such as boosts/cover lines help to gain interest from an audience. For instance, looking at ‘Classic rock’ and ‘Rocksound’ Magazines helped me to identify the conventional colour schemes of rock magazines (both used gold, red, black and white.) as well as the type of shots used for the images and the sorts of costumes/props which are used. While my magazine took heavy influence from these publications, I did however break some conventions to add a personalised touch to my project. For example, rather than focusing on an established artist, my cover focused on an upcoming indie artist, as well as the use of diamond graphics (boosts, bullet points etc.) as a unique theme of my publication.

In my year 13 film promotion excercise, I made a horror movie trailer/poster/magazine. In order to do this I had to investigate conventions of horror and it’s many sub-genres, such as stock characters/situations, weapons and costumes and setting. I also investigated trailer structures and promotion methods.

For this trailer, we based the included elements of existing horror films to create a product that is instantly recognisable as part of that genre. However, our trailers carry our own personal representations of these concepts, and the settings reflect those of our everyday lives. A general audience have not necessarily explored London themselves, and our edgy unsettling representation of the area subverts the false reality which is often presented in existing films.

Through my research into the conventions of media texts, I have developed as a media producer, as I am now able to understand why these elements are conventions of their respective genres, and what the intended meanings/responses from the audience are. I am now a able to implement this knowledge into my own projects to create an identifiable or unique take on an existing genre.