How effective is the combination of the ancillary tasks and the main product?

1. EVALUATION QUESTION
2
HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF THE
ANCILLARY TASKS AND THE MAIN PRODUCT?
BY DANIELLE

2. The Advert

3. The Digipak

4. Role of the female
The role of the female is significantly more important in the video than it is in
the advert or the Digipak which don’t feature a female. The reason that she
isn’t in either of the ancillary tasks is because she only relates to Childsplay,
rather than the album as a whole. The ancillary tasks are trying to sell the
entire album, and it would create confusion if she appeared in them. In the
video, the female has a role of the antagonist, who is dropped and forgotten
by Drake. The whole idea of the video is that, to Drake, she is Childsplay ands
he spoils her with expensive gifts and luxuries, because he can. The video
conforms to gender stereotypes- the male financially provides for her and
buys her nice things, but it also portrays her as inferior. She is a stereotypical
girl, she is emotional, demanding of him and enjoys living off his money and is
treated badly by him. She is presented as weak and Drake as powerful. In a
sense, the video conforms to gender stereotypes and taboos.

5. Graphical effects
Graphical effects have been used in all three products in order to enhance them. The ancillary tasks are quite heavily
edited; the pictures of London have been made to look posturized. The reason that I chose to posturized it was partly
due to the inspiration I gained from Jason Deruo’s album front cover which can be seen above.. The distortion from
the standard London as we know it helped to reflect the R&B genre which in itself is less mainstream. I also actually
changed the colors of some of the buildings on one of the sides of my Digipak. The reason that I did this was t
highlight them as they are our key theme, so I wanted to draw attention to them. Also, I wanted that side of the
Digipak to differ from the front cover, which, when unedited, is a similar picture. I wanted my Digipak to link, in terms
of the images, but through my editing I managed to make them really different. I also used Photoshop to use the
magnetic lasso tool to draw around the buildings and create my blue lines, which can be seen in both ancillary tasks. I
kept them blue for the purpose of consistency and recognition as I wanted the audience to receive it as one campaign.
In terms of the main product, graphical effects were used less than in the ancillary tasks, but they were still put in to
use. For example, the screenshot above shows the overlay I put on to one section of the video, whereby the male and
female’s faces are merged into one, yet they can still be distinguished from one another. This was to show that they
were as one, but with time they are moving apart into two different individuals, drifting away from each other. This
was why neither looked happy in this shot, it was supposed to represent the downfall of their relationship.

6. Use of colour
• Colour scheme is definitely a theme across my digipak and advert. The links are clear and can be
seen in the screenshots. The main colours used were blue, yellow, navy, black and white. I used
colours which I thought would stand out, and I wanted to keep them consistent.
• Audience recognition- it is important that the colours are striking and memorable because the
audience need to recognise it in a store/online. If they have seen the advert, they will find the
Digipak easier to locate because they will remember it. The advert uses all of the same colours
of the Digipak, and in the centre of the advert there is the front cover of the Digipak. I made the
Digipak before I made the advert, because I based the advert on the Digipak, rather than the
other way around. This is because the advert is trying to sell the Digipak, and the Digipak is
trying to sell the music video/song. Online music stores such as apple music display the album
front cover, so to the audience, seeing it on the advert helps them to remember it. in
stores/online media display the album cover e.g. apple music.
• The colour gold was used for both, because of the gold owl which represent Drake as an artists,
as well as his record label, OVO. My ancillary tasks had to promote the record label as well,
which was why it used the gold owl. However, on the Digipak I used a colour overlay over the
owl to make it black, because black stood out over the pale blue better than gold does. In this
instance, using black gave the owl a much more professional look,
• Brand identity- the colours used had to reflect Drake and his music as well as the R&B genre. I
used blue for both backgrounds to give it a masculine effect, as drake is a stereotypical ‘manly’
man. However, he is also trendy and his style is inspirational, which is why I used brighter colour
such as pale blue and yellow to brighten it up.

7. Theme of London Skyline

8. Theme of London Skyline
It can be seen from the screenshots on the last slide that the
London skyline was the primary theme that we used, and it
interlinks between all three products. The reason for choosing this
theme was because of the rural aspect the R&B genre has attached
to it. In our music video, there are shots of London, particularly at
the beginning and end, both with the protagonist walking along the
bridge as well as alone. Probably our most effective shot in the
entire video is one of the camera tracking around the side of the
males head whilst he stares at the view in front of him. This idea is
reinforced by the Digipak and the advert. The Digipak has 4 sides of
it which contain either images/ a template of the skyline, and the
advert contains both, one with a yellow template and two with blue
ones, to reinforce the color scheme. We felt that for Drake, this
image of London represents ownership, belonging and dominance
over a powerful city. London connotes the idea of wealth and
affluence which links to the idea of Drake being wealthy enough to
spoil his girl with expensive gifts and luxuries.

9. Direct eye contact
We found that in the video especially, direct eye contact was important, because it
helped to engage the audience. There are scenes when Drake, the protagonist,
sings/raps at the camera. It is part of the nature of rap music to address the audience,
so it worked well, especially when the lyrics became more aggressive. It was
acceptable to break the fourth wall in our video because it was a performance based
video, meaning that the protagonist is supposed to be aware of himself being filmed.
To the audience, they will feel as though Drake is looking right act them and it again
reinforces Drake as a powerful, dominant individual. In the Digipak, the CD covering is
of Drake staring at the camera, looking serious, with London s the background. This
juxta positioning of him in front of London was intended to be a metaphor to show his
power- it is supposed to represent London and its fans behind Drake, backing him. His
serious face implies that he is to be feared of/respected. Facial expression is important
a smiling face invites welcoming and we wanted to create the opposite. I think that we
successfully represented Drake’s genre.

10. Representation of characters

11. Representation of characters
Both the Digipak and the video represent the characters depicted in
the music video. The advert doesn’t, which was intentional because
it creates a sense of mystery and curiosity which makes the
audience enticed to do more research, and watch the video on
YouTube, or go into a shop buy the Digipak. The advert is minimalist
on purpose, it is only supposed to be promoting the release date.
The main idea of the video was that their relationship was based on
gifts and luxuries, and was ultimately superficial. The male
eventually became fed up and left her (in the video we represented
this through her waiting outside for ages until she finally walked
away. As said earlier, she is presented as weak and shallow in
comparison to the protagonist (Drake), who was supposed to be a
lot deeper and more emotionally connected than her. In the
Digipak, not only does the audience view drake through the images,
but also through his lyrics and thank you note. He speaks personally
about those closest to him and the whole idea is that for the people
who buy the Digipak, they are obtaining exclusive information
about Drake.

12. Information given and how it
linked
The information given is minimal, because I did not want to overload the consumer with
information. It also makes the products look a lot more professional if they are sleek,
clean and direct. On the advert, the main piece of information given is the Release date.
Underneath it are two of the albums main songs, which are included as a form of
recognition, as they would have been released previously because they are singles. Fans
of drake’s music would know this, and would be more enticed to buy the album because
they have previously liked his songs. I wanted this part to stand out, because the release
date is important for the audience as they know when the music is available to start
buying. On the bottom left, the OVO logo can be seen and on the bottom right the
iTunes logo can also be seen along with the bar code. The OVO logo needed to be there
in order to promote the record label, which is one part of Goodwin’s theory. ITunes is a
form of purchasing music electronically, which, with growing technology and new
media, is the most popular way of buying music in modern society. Similarly, on the back
cover of the Digipak, (right), the information layout is the same. This was again to keep
the campaign consistent and to effectively combine the main product with the ancillary
task. However, on the left hand side of the iTunes logo is a bar code, which is a practical
necessity, as Digipak’s are purchased in physical stores and will have to be scanned.

13. The owl
The owl is extremely symbolic to Drake’s music, and is well known to his fans. The Owl
not only represents OVO records, but it actually represents Drake as an artist, as part of
his brand identity. On the advert, the owl was used solely as a logo, which I changed
from gold to black in order to fit the colour scheme. On the digipak, the Owl features
both on the hoodie, worn by the protagonist as well as the template background, which
has faded owls and one in full colour. In the music video, the protagonist is again
wearing the hoodie, which helps to link them together effectively as well as link it back
to the record label Logo. In a sense, it is synergy, because the video and digipak are
helping to promote the record label, and the record label is aiming to promote the
music. Also, by Drake wearing the hoodie, it is promoting his own Merchandise, which
can be bought online, or at his concerts.

14. Font
I used the same font throughout my entire Digipak and Advert. I chose it because it is clear to
read, whilst also being edgy and hip which fits with Drake as an artist and his music’s genre. A
font physically needs to be easy to read because whilst my primary target audience is
teenagers, it needs to still appeal to children who could be dyslexic/struggle to read. This font
makes it accessible and really clear. For the most part, I kept it lower case because then the
things in Caps would stand out further. The font definitely helped to combine my ancillary
tasks because it is recognizable as being part of the same campaign which contributes to the
same effect. When people see the advert, they will be looking out for a Digipak which
resembles that advert and the font will help them to identify this.

15. Conclusion
In conclusion to this question, the combination of the
main product and the ancillary tasks has been immensely
effective. The font and themes as well as the Owl OVO
logo was used on both, and contributed to give a similar
effect. There are clear links between all of my products,
and I think I was successful in combining my ideas. My
graphical effects were slightly different in different
digipak sides, but it worked as a whole because I had
used a consistent colour scheme. The information given
helped to promote the main product and the main
character is portrayed in the same way through the
Digipak as he is through the music video.