1. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE
COMBINATION OF YOUR
MAIN PRODUCT AND
ANCILLARY TEXTS?
Question 2
2. HOUSE STYLE AND THEME
Throughout my products I have a running house style and theme. This was
to ensure that my target audience could make a continuing connection
between all three of my products and so that they could recognise that they
are all products promoting the same song and music video. The metaphor
that runs through all of my products is the feel of being intoxicated which can
explain the reason for or a reason to solve a person’s sadness and
loneliness. There is also an extended metaphor of euphoria, which comes
from being around people that bring you happiness and also can argued can
stem from being intoxicated.
3. MUSIC VIDEO
One of the main purposes of my music video is to entertain my target audience (and others).
However, when creating my music video, the main intention was to create a
character/protagonist that my audience could identify and connect with through her behaviour
and actions. Simply, by using a young woman around the age of 18 who has drunk herself
into a silly state, I feel that my target audience can identify with her as many 16-25 year olds
have either witnessed or been in a similar situation she has. The quickly cut shots and the fast
pace of the song help portray the speed at which my protagonist is drinking, showing her aim
is really to get drunk. Also the slowness of the shots where my protagonist is looking straight
at the camera takes time out from the reckless drinking and allows the audience to connect on
a deeper level with her and her conscious mind through the various stages of her drinking. In
contrast, I feel that they fast paced shots of the crowd reinforce the theme of loneliness, which
many young people experience in their lives, further making the protagonist more identifiable.
5. MAGAZINE ADVERT
The main purpose of the magazine advert was to quite simply promote the music video and to portray the genre of Drum
and Bass. I feel that my magazine advert successfully does this, as firstly it includes a photo of my protagonist in the
music video, thus meaning that the audience will recognise the posters intentions of promoting the video. As well as this,
the house style; purple and white, represents the moody, but vibrant and different attitude of the genre. Drum and Bass;
until more recently is a very individualistic genre of music and many of the listeners are defined as individualists as they
do not conform and do not aim to fit in with others, showing that they are vibrant in the way they wish to stand out from
other. Thus the house style represents the target audience I am trying to reach out to. Having a ‘moody’ theme to my
magazine advert also links to my protagonist in my music video. The alcohol has changed her from being a vibrant and
happy person to sad and miserable toward the end of the video. The picture itself was taken in front of black background
which was lit up, as my intentions at the beginning were to create a, sulky magazine advert, which I have done. In terms
of promotion of the music video, I feel that my music magazine as done so via the reviews, the date of release and also
where the audience can purchase it from. The reviews especially will help promote the music video. I have used music
magazine associated with the genre of the video to give reviews as my target audience, who obviously enjoy drum and
bass, will be able to recognise and see that a music magazine they trust is giving a good review, in turn assisting and
possibly increasing sales.
7. DIGIPAK
The digipak that I have created also maintains the purple and white house style which features of my
magazine advert. It also preserves the intoxicated feel of the music video through the effect on the images,
which I placed on Adobe Photoshop. I took a picture of my protagonist half smiling and placed an effect on
it to make the audience feel like they were intoxicated or their vision is blurry, just like how my protagonist
feels in the music video, allowing them empathize more with her and the state she is in. I also placed a
‘blue tone’ over this picture so that it matches colour and also the laser lights on the opposite page. The
image of the crowd promotes the music video as the audience will be able to make a connection from the
multiple crowd shots in the music video through to the digipak. I also felt that having this two images
reinforces the contrasting narratives and feeling that I have portray in my actual music video, again
meaning that the target audience will be able to recognise that the digipak refers to the music video. It
could be argued that the digipak does credit the music video to ‘Afterglow’ the most even though it is
advertising other songs. However, as the prime aspects of Drum and Bass songs and music video include
dancing crowds, intoxication and also laser lights, I feel that it successfully advertises all the songs, in turn
making it successful in its overall representation of the genre of Drum and Bass.
8. DIGIPAK
Moreover, the stages of being intoxicated which is represent by
my protagonist behaviour, facial expressions and movement in
the music video is also promoted through separating the track
list into two parts on the back of my digipak. The first being
named ‘9PM-2AM: euphoria’. This time lapse usually
associated with the first few stages on being intoxicated, for
example feeling positive, happy and ready for a night out, thus
the name of the stage being called ‘euphoria’. The second part
of the track list is names ‘2AM-5AM: come down’. The words
‘come down’ are heavily associated with the ‘wearing off’ effect
of the drugs and alcohol which again occurs primarily at these
times as this is when clubs shut and people stop what they are
taking and head home.
9. DIGIPAK
The image itself also portrays the protagonist’s feelings of isolation as her
back is turned from the audience. This could create the empathy and
identification that I wanted to create with her even when the target audience
are not watching the music video. The image of my protagonist on the front
of my digipak, is similar to the one of my magazine advert, meaning that my
target audience will be familiar with her face and be able to make the
connection between my music video, poster and digipak.
10. ALL 3 PRODUCTS…
I feel that all three of my products work together to successfully promote the song. This is
through a variety of elements, such as the same house styles and the images used. I also feel
that promotion comes from the metaphor of intoxication and loneliness, which starts in my
music and runs through my ancillary products. The metaphor is visually portrayed in my digipak
by the images used, more specifically the two middle pages. These images, allow the audience
to feel how the protagonist would be feeling in the music video (i.e. disorientated) which ties the
two products together, in turn promoting each other. The use of the images of the protagonist
from my music video in my magazine advert and digipak, allow the audience to make a
connection with the three products, as Hannah’s (protagonists) face will be familiar to them
already, from previous viewing of either product.
ADVERT:
FRONT OF DIGIPAK:
MUSIC VIDEO:
11. WHERE WOULD I DISPLAY MY
MUSIC VIDEO?
In terms of how I would display my music, I would most likely put into on to the MTV channels,
more specifically MTV DANCE, which is where most drum and bass music videos are found,
alongside other dance genres such as Dub step and House. In doing this, I am reassured that
my target audience (16-25 males and female, of demographics BC1 and C2) will be able to
view my music video as many times as possible as MTV DANCE generally attracts this
category of audience. I know this predominately from self experience as my friends, many
people I know and I myself (who too fall under this category) tend to choose MTV DANCE,
over say MTV ROCK, as they play the genre of music that we like to listen to. I also would
place my music video on Youtube.com as this is a world famous site for finding and watching
all types of videos. My music video would then also be free for the public to watch at their own
leisure, and will also give the availably to post comments underneath the video, rate it, and
also share it to other media sites if they wanted to, in turn promoting my music video even
further without me actually doing something. YouTube also allows my target audience to
subscribe to my ‘YouTube channel’ if they wanted too, meaning that an audience that I have
already gained will be able to view any new products as soon as I've posted them. Posting
videos onto Youtube.com is also free of charge, meaning that I would not have to spend any
money in posting my music video, so really meaning distribution and promotion would be
cheaper, and partially free.
12. HOW WOULD I MEASURE THE
SUCCESS OF MY
PRODUCTS?
I measure success of my products, in the amount of reviews/hits that I have
gained on sites such as vimeo and youtube. I also base success of the
positive feedback that I have received from my peers and target audience. I
feel that this is more important than monetary value as the feedback is
personalised to you and it shows your target audience are willing to take time
out to contact you about your work. So far I have received positive feedback
on my tasks, which has made me feel confident about my music video and
the ancillary tasks.
