2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

As part of my coursework, I produced two ancillary products to accompany my final music video. Within this evaluation I am going to compare both my ancillary projects including my digipack and my music advertisement, as well as my final product which was a music video, I will compare them together and explain how they’re linked to one and other.

The first ancillary product that I created was an 8 sided digipak that would contain the artist’s album and the second was a poster advertisement that would appear in a music magazine, promoting the artists new album. It was important when developing these ancillary products to create a synergy between them and my final music video.

I used a consistent house style between both my ancillaries and my final product, I did this in order to make the overall product easily recognisable to consumers. I used similar imagery and iconography between them which is particularly shown in my final music video.

As well as researching for my final product, I researched existing digipacks and album advertisements in order to help me gain an understanding of

Ancillary 1 (CD Digipack)

Ancillary 2 (album advert)

Final product

conventions and how I could translate these to help me with my products amongst helping to make them look more professional. I analysed a range of existing media products, as part of my research, I analysed a range of digipacks which was beneficial when creating my first ancillary task, I focused particularly on the types of imagery used, and it was clear that bold, striking images were the most effective in attracting audience’s attention.

These images tend to be either close up and mid shot images, therefore this is something I considered when shooting the images for my digipack.

The imagery produced for both my ancillary projects relates to the music video we produced, I took images at the same time and same location that we were shooting, these images were then edited to have a lighter tone and reflect the overall theme of the song and also helps reflect the genre pop. I also researched and analysed a range of music magazine advertisements, three of which were the album posters of Ellie Goulding, Jessie J and Jay Z which proved to be highly useful in terms of the layout and what should be included in an album poster. Jessie Js poster had a huge impact on the outcome of my poster as I used a very similar style to display information at the bottom of the page.

After analysing previous advertisements it was clear to me that the information included within an album advertisement should be minimal and simplistic. I also noticed that the most important pieces of information were a larger size or bolded to the extent that they stood out amongst the other pieces of information, For example the album name and the release date tended to be much larger than information such as the name of record label. In terms of the layout for my ancillary tasks, the main reason for creating both the digipack and the album advertisement is to promote both the artist and the album. Many artists use this method of advertisements because it allows them to promote themselves to their intended target audience. For both my poster and digipack I have decided to use the same images of the main character within my final product, which links them all in together, she is the artist of the album. I did this as I found that it enabled them to link together extremely well.

I generally followed conventions in order to make the product appear as realistic as possible. For the album poster, I decided to make the text large and easy to read whilst standing out, The text is more or less all in the centre and has the website and twitter address in the top right hand corner. The album cover is similar to my music advertisement, which is purposely done in order for the audience to be able to identify it when in a store as the exact same picture and font is used. For both of them, the posistioning of the text was fairly basic in order to make the text stand out. On the front of my digi pack, the artist name is slightly smaller than the album name. It was important that the overall layout of my difipack was similar to the album advertisment so that the audience could recognise it easily which is why I used the same style for both of them, to maintain a consistant house style.I also used the same image on both of them so that it was easy for the audience to recognmise that it was the same album, many artists use this method including katy perry, Ellie goulding and Jessie J.

I therefore used this apporach to combine both of my ancillaries together

The font was also exactly the same on each ancillary however the layout was different. The font on the music magazine had a black box around it to add more depth to the product and was in a line, whereas the font on the album was more spaced out, similar to the opening title of the music video, although they were all very similar. this was effective as it meant that the text is instantly recognised and the audience will know that theyre all related. When creating my digipack I decided to choose several images for all of the panels which would create a flow of props and things which are included in my final product. As well as keeping the style of the image I used consistent, as I added a tint of pink to each one to fit in with the genre of pop, this kept the colour scheme consistent as the colour pink was highlighted frequently in the music video.

Like most digipaks i researched, I posistioned the tracklisting for the album on the back page of the digipack in a vertical column, as I felt this was the most effective way of positioning the text. When creating my music video I made sure to include an extremely wide range of different shot types and editing techniques, these varied shots and editing techniques would hopefully portray the narrative we wanted when

making the video more interesting to watch.

The Digi pack also includes a range of different shot angles, which I believe makes it more interesting and gives it a dynamic view, as opposed to a Digi pack which would consist of a range of mid shots. As the video is about a surprise party, we decided to use 2 different houses as locations, along with the journey between the two, this shown the difference in houses to show that they went from one house where they got ready, into the house where the party is situated. This combines with my cd Digi pack as the front and back cover are each a different location from two different scenes. The cross cuts between the two, whilst contrasting with the beat of the song, made the video exciting and interesting. We tried to create the video in a very real sense as the video is targeted to teenagers, and they tend to stereotypically drink and party. We’re able to see how girls get ready including the appliance of makeup and taking pictures of themselves, etc.

Camera

There are a range of camera shots in my video including close ups of applying makeup. Etc.In the video we have used a range of mid shots which is why the majority of my Digi pack images are mid shots.

Editing

When creating our video we used a range of editing techniques which we used in order to display the narrative, one of which was a split screen, the split screen helped identify that there was two different locations.

My team and I also used fast paced cuts which create a flow of what is happening on screen and matches the beat of the song which is a typical convention of existing pop videos.

We also made the clips repeat to fit with the beat and the lyric of the song

Another effect we added was a reverse effect which we created a split screen on

In the final music video we have used some blur effects, as well as a strobe light effect. In my digipack, I have used a slight blur effect on the background of the back cover, this therefore ties the two in together.

Mise en scene

The mise en scene of the video helps identify that there are two locations within the music video I have created which are two different houses, in the first house shown, it is the present time, in which the main character is closing her curtains, lighting some candles and getting in bed, where she finds a present, these props help distinguish the difference

in location to the third scene. This is shown in the video as one of the props in the first scene is that the main character clicks a phone to play the video, this then rolls

on to the next scene which is her getting ready with her friends the night before, in this location she is taking pictures of her self with her smart phone, getting ready, with her friends applying her makeup, etc.. This scene shows the glamour in girls whilst they’re getting ready. The third scene involves the second location is the second house which is the house where the surprise party is being held; the difference in location is shown due to the fast paced journey in the car shot.

The props in this scene include alcohol, balloons, buntings and the glamour of teenagers getting dressed up for a party, these are each icons of party’s, as is the proxemics of people in the shot, they are all dancing and stood very close to one and other showing that they are a close group of friends, these are all typical conventions of teenagers. This is why I believe my final product links to my ancillaries as the shots in which I recorded for my music video, reflect with the images used in my digipack and my music album magazine advert as they each show glamour and emphasise parties. The music video is similar to my digipack as they each include glasses of alcohol, party props such as confetti and balloons, and the main character is also shown. They each follow a certain and consistent house style. Another way in which they combine together is that in the video, there is occasionally scenes where the large teddy is involved, which is why I then put this in my digipack, it adds a sense of ‘still being a little girl’ even though it is an 18th birthday party.

To conclude, the combination of my ancillary products and our final profuct

is highly effective, we have maintained a consistent house style throghout all products. By doing so, it is easy to identify that they are each similar and belong to the same artist and song. I believe when comparing both my ancillary tasks and my main product together that they are both clearly extremely compatible and effective side by side, for one, the visual images used in both connect to each other as they are each about the party and include the same main character. Furthermore, I generally followed conventions when developing my ancillary products, especially in relation to the imagery and positioning of text, I felt this was the most effective way of creating professional looking high quality products.