Media A2 Coursework

1. How effective is the
combination of your main
product and ancillary texts?
By Alex, Matt and Ollie

2. Common themes
 The common theme between these three elements would
include the dark theme that was used on the Digipak, poster
and video. This is shown through the use of the dark colour
on the Digipak (mostly black and dark blue) and the poster
(which contrast the colour by using light colours including red
and white) and the dark theme within the music video. We
have used synergy between these three media products
through the use of the characters within the narrative of the
story with the “main bad” character being shown on the front
of the Digipak and the “victim/hero” character shown on the
poster. This ties together both sides of the story through
colours and images used.

3. Genre
 The genre of the song is alternative rock and we have shown
this through using a darker theme for the music video. Our
Digipak relates to the genre through the use of the gritty,
distressed pattern used on the front and back, however the
inside uses the nightlife skyline of Newcastle to relate our
Digipak to the busy city life used in the video and the poster
with the skyline that is used through both. Alternative rock
gave us the freedom to make it look more realistic rather than
darker as the rock genre usually is but also showing the
contrast between the light and the dark themes and imagery
used within the video.

4. Star iconography
 There were two main characters used within the video which
were the main bad character (top left) and the good character
(top right). This is shown through contrast as the main bad
character is dressed in a hoodie with his hood up and a mask
covering his face to make him appear as a thug type of
character to have the best interpretation of a gang member.
However the contrast shown between him and the main good
character is shown through the good character showing his face
and is dressed in lighter colours as opposed to the darker
colours worn by the bad character. From the good character
showing his face he shows that he isn’t hiding anything whereas
the mask shows that he is closed off and could connote inner
demons that he is fighting off.

5. Genre and artist image
 The artist image does not follow the conventions of the
general artist image for the rock genre. However as this is a
lighter genre of rock the artists would normally wear casual
clothes instead of the full on rock and roll gear. This allowed
us to use a relaxed approach when it came to the clothes the
performers were wearing as we wanted to make it look
natural and realistic to fit with the music video. This also
didn’t require us to use the heavy metal vibe with all black
clothes and long black hair as portrayed in the top left.
Instead the top right ranging from hoodies, t-shirts and
jackets.

6. Target audience (Music video)
 The target audience for our music video would be the current
audience that the band would be aiming for already. I believe
that their intended audience would match ours with it mainly
targeting teenagers more than anyone as the lyrics from the
song speak to those who could be stuck in a bad place in their
life and feel as if they are “Stuck”. The song also references
problems that teenagers get themselves caught up in. We have
also only used teenagers within the Digipak and the music video
so they will be able to relate to the characters that we have
created. The video would also reach the intended target
audience through the interesting story told by the characters of
the troubles within their life and the violence used will attract
teenagers as they are finding themselves

7. Target audience (Digipak)
 The Digipak would invite the intended target audience to view
the video through the use of dark colours on the front, back
and middle with the front possessing an image of the main
character dressed in the thug uniform that was used within
the video when approaching the main character for the first
time. This would attract a teenage audience as the actor
used on the cover is of the same age as the intended
audience so they will feel more connected to it overall. The
gritty feel of the digipak would attract a young audience as
they could feel connected to the underground feeling of
protesting against the mainstream focus (such as pop music)