1. Section A: Real Media Conventions What are the conventions of a music magazine? Write these down onto the nine blank cards with your partner. Now arrange these in order (diamond nine) to show which conventions are the most important. Clue: A convention is the way something is usually done; the common techniques.

2. What are the conventions of a music video?

3. Same-Different Work with your partner to compare the similarities and differences between the digipaks you have been given. Then find a new partner and compare the four different examples you have looked at.

4. What are the conventions of a digipak?

5. Codes and Conventions What are codes? Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic: Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film. Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling. What are conventions? Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific. How codes and conventions apply in media studies Codes and conventions are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre. For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense – an integral part of any horror movie.

6. Section A: Real Media Conventions Summarise your understanding of conventions now for each of the coursework tasks in your section A booklet.

7. Evaluating Progress A question about real media conventions is likely to be phrased as: “Explain how you used real media conventions in your coursework productions and evaluate how you developed these skills.” Together we are going to answer this question using a previous student’s work.

16. “Explain how you used real media conventions in your coursework productions and evaluate how you developed these skills.” Write for ten minutes to answer this question using the previous students’ work.