A2 Media coursework

1. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE
COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN
PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY
TEXTS?
BY BERKAY CETINKAYA

2. MY THREE PRODUCTS FOR A2 MEDIA
In A2 Media we were assigned as a group to create a main product which is a music video and pick two
ancillary products to compliment the main product. We had the options of a Magazine, Website, Digipak
and poster advert and as a group we picked a Website and Digipak to complement our main product as
we thought it would also suit our artist’s genre more. The target audience being people from rough
backgrounds, we wanted something they can access and use, compared to a magazine which would
have to be purchased. Also, the target age range made it more suited as in the current day and age
teens are more likely to be on the internet than reading a poster. There is also a lot more information
that could be put into a website than a magazine or poster advert.

3. ARTIST’S BRAND IMAGE ACROSS ALL THREE PRODUCTS: MUSIC VIDEO
The mise-en scene throughout the video suits the artists image very well because our Location is set in the bridge between poor and rich.
This goes with a media theorists theory about how there are binary opposites in texts. Levi Strauss said that binary opposites exist and in
our music video it certainly does. The location suits the Grime Genre very well because Grime originated in the United Kingdom and our
video is set in London. The codes and conventions of grime is raw and gritty and it is a place where gangsters can turn to create and express
their lifestyle, we were expressing Frisky’s lifestyle and showing his world to our audience and Frisky is from Fellows Court where he says it
isn’t safe for the block and we use many different cinematography techniques and props to show this, for example, a use of a joint and
close ups to express the drug problem that the police face. There was a lot of planning put into creating the narrative that we have from
story boards to experimenting in different locations to really try to express this danger with one single cast member because we wasn’t able
to gather a group. Overall our Artists brand image in the music video is a raw and dangerous individual that has no heart for the opposition
and I believe we expressed this very well.

4. ARTIST’S BRAND IMAGE ACROSS ALL THREE PRODUCTS: DIGIPAK
The artist’s image within the Digipak was designed with a lot of thought, me and my partner Ugurcan made a load of drafts so that the album
art suits the music video and albums theme. For example, the no ball games sign with Frisky underneath is a short but sweet Album cover
because although it is very basic it links with the lyrics. “it ain’t safe for the block” is the chorus and Ball games aren’t allowed around blocks
because it disturbs the neighbours and for us to have his name under it shows that he owns the area; the neighbourhood. This also express
the type of character our artist Frisky is; a rebel. The red colour through our theme also has its own set of connotations that again suit the
genre of our music video and our music video. Both Grime and “It ain’t safe” is a hood genre and within the hood there is a lot of violence
which results in people bleeding and the colour of blood is red, that’s why as you might notice our text is red with a black outline to highlight
it to the consumer and the three panels on the top with the spray painting also is red with a black outer edge. This suits the codes and
conventions of the genre grime. We have two sets of lighting throughout our digipak, the bottom layer is dull and the top layer is vibrant.
This shows the transition from being poor to rich when you are a grime artist. There is also two mobile phones, an old Nokia and a new
IPhone 6 which supports the transition stage and if our audience is an active audience they will know why we have included an old Nokia. An
old Nokia is used by gangsters to trap and sell there weed on so in case they are caught they can just throw it away as its cheap and get rid of
the evidence that may incriminate them.

5. ARTIST’S BRAND IMAGE ACROSS ALL THREE PRODUCTS: WEBSITE
The artist’s image within the Website is very basic, we followed our initial idea quite strictly because we were
limited by what was offered by our website creator; Wix.com. They required us to purchase either half of the
needed things or it wasn’t available. The image that we used in the background is of our artist Frisky because in
Grime there is a lot of narcissism, the artist is always centre of attention and we are trying to create this on a
website, get our audience as close as they can with our artist. The reason why we used a black and white theme
is because the picture was taken during a sunny day where it was quite vibrant and the connotations of vibrant
colours are happiness. We want a dull theme so we adapted the photo using Photoshop by changing the colours
to greyscale. All though the theme throughout isn’t of bricks, it is still similar as its wood. However, it was the
best image we had available for the front page.

6. COMING UP WITH THE IDEA
After a few drafts we had a certain theme going on. In most scenes you can notice there are bricks but in one shot that you
find in every verse you notice there is a clear wide brick wall behind our artist Frisky. The whole theme throughout the video
is pretty much dull to express the danger within the hood. Keeping it dull compared to bright was a good decision on our
behalf because when you think about the connotations of brightness is happiness. We don’t find happiness round fellow’s
court and keeping it dull expresses this very well. The bricks also when used as a slang word has other meanings. A brick is a
kilogram of drugs so the connotations of a brick again suits our music videos lyrics. The reason why we didn’t plan for the
theme from the initial start was because at the planning and research stage we wasn’t really able to see if what we had in
mind will work or if it wouldn’t which might force us to change some stuff around, so creating a common theme throughout
from the start wasn’t really feasible which is why we created our music video first and then the ancillary products.

7. CONSCIOUS, CREATIVE, UNIQUE AND SUCCESSFUL
When we first started creating our Text and then making them into drafts and then further improving them we
noticed a common theme of the bricks, it wasn’t a conscious decision from the start, and however, it was conscious
in the sense that we noticed the bricks and then decided to follow it up with the ancillary products. We thought that
linking the three ancillary products will also give the artist a more professional theme. This will give him more
opportunities as people like creativity, now creativity depends on each person and what they think is creative.
Creativity to me is creating something new and good that hasn’t been done before even if it’s an improvement over
something that has been already made. We made a music video that followed a few in terms of ideas, for example,
Nines Can’t blame me. I don’t think we successfully made it better but to our own standards we did a good job,
especially on linking the narrative to the ancillary products which not many artists accomplish. That to me is
successful, creative and unique.

8. WHAT I WOULD CHANGE
Although we created very high quality ancillary products and overall they are attractive and useful, there are some
problems as well just like any other digipak and website. For example, the website which overall is fairly nice has a very
boring “about” section that is fairly useless, it doesn’t really inform anyone or give that much in-depth information that a
usual grime artist wouldn't already know. This page should be useful for even the biggest fans so that even they feel
amazed which will reflect more on fans that aren’t that into Grime. This is partly down to us but also down to Wix.com
being a very restrictive website in terms of premium and free. The about section is a great way for us to improve the
bond between the fans but I believe ours is unfortunately boring. The fact that our artist is made up within a short space
of time makes it hard to also talk about him and make it personalised, we generalised our artist to conform to the codes
and conventions of other grime artists like Skepta. Another thing I would change is the Acknowledgement section of the
digipak because of how bad it looks compared to every single other panel , the word didn’t fit in a larger font which
made the current one too small and it looks stretched. The red colour doesn’t pop and the black outline is too big.

9. EXISTING OUTSIDE OF THIS PROJECT & TARGET AUDIENCE
Our target audience is quite young and they are active on social media, thinking from their
perspective and as a grime fan I think that being a teenager if I like something I will
personally go out of my way to share it and get it out there so if our music video gets
trending then it can exist outside of this project. One tweet turns into two and two turns
into 4 etc. As a group we did a very good job with creating a reoccurring creative theme
throughout the whole project which people will notice. All three products conform to the
codes and conventions of the genre Grime and we think we are bringing something new to
it by linking everything because a genre like Grime is looked down upon, there is a lot of
people trying to enter the scene and they enter with low quality which makes the whole
genre look worse. The self centering of our artist Frisky into the website and digipak and
music video creates a unified image of our artist Frisky.
The dull but vibrant theme with a large Frisky brush stroke is very attractive, it makes you
want to look more, and also the panels are different but representative of the genre.
People that know the genre will understand the Trap phone prop. It makes them an active
audience.