Evaluation questions 1 and 2

1. Evaluation questions
1 and 2
Mary Morgan

2. HowdidIcreatesynergybetweenmyproducts?
Cover
Withmydidpak,Iusedallofthesamefontonallofthesidestocreatesynergy.Ialsoused
thisfontformymagazineadvertaswell.Ihavedecidedtouseasimpledesignformy
digipak,blackandwhite,asthiscreatessynergybetweenthedesignandourmusicvideo.
Therearelotsofblackandwhiteinthevideoalso,forexampleClaudia’sblackclothesand
blackmakeup,aswellasKaty'swhiteclothesandthelightingusedtocreatetheideaof
innocence. Onthecoverofmydigipak,IhaveusedonesimplephotographofClaudiawith
thewordsLorde,thenameoftheartist,andPureHeroine,whichisthenameofthealbum.
IfeltlikeIdidn’tneedmuchmorethanthat,justhernameandthenameofthealbum.I
believethiswillgiveagoodeffect,becausesometimesifsomethingisn’tverygood,you
havetoputlotsofdistractingthingsonthecoverofthealbumorinthemusicvideoto
compensateforthis.However,withsomethingamazingitonlyneedsverylittle,onlysaying
whatitisinside.Themusicwilldrawpeoplein,itisn’talwaysaboutwhatyouputonthe
outside..Sayingthis,Ididwantmydigipaktobecaptivatingastomakepeoplewanttobuy
it,andsoIincludedapictureofjustClaudia,assheisthemainartist.IbelievethatIchose
therightimagebecauseitisalmostasifsheismakingeyecontactwiththeaudience,
makingthemfeellikeshehasapersonalconnectionwiththem.Iusedsyngerybetweenall
threeitems;thecoverofmydigipak,mymagazineadvertandourmusicvideo.

3. Inside left
The image that I have chosen for the inside left links with the rest of the
digipak as it is is simple and black and white. The picture was taken down by
the river, where some of the shots for our music video were taken, which is
another way in which I created synergy between my products. As I have
mentioned before, the song we have chosen is quite simplistic in itself, and so I
thought that the digipak should be that way also, including the picture. The
reason that I did that front cover in normal colour rather that black and white
is because more people see that than the inside left photograph, and so I
thought if it was black and white it would look too retro and old fashioned, and
as my target audience is mainly aimed at the younger audience, I thought that
this would appeal to them less if it was in black and white. However, as the
video is alternative, I thought that the inside left photo was perfect as it
symbolizes peace and the picture itself is aesthetically pleasing, but this is
done subtly, just like the narrative in the story line. This is also how I created
synergy between the inside left image and my music video.

4. CD design
For my CD design, I have just included the name of the artist, Lorde, and the
name of the album, pure heroine. This links in with the rest of my digipak, as
it is almost retro, but not too retro that it looks too old. The colour I have used
for the CD is just a pure white colour, this links with Katy, the white swan, and
symbolizes her innocence and her purity. However, the black writing
symbolizes the black swan, Claudia, and the deep struggle that she is facing.
There is a theme running through my digipak of black and white because our
music video is focused on the white swan and the black swan, which is also
links back to my inner left photograph. The idea of my digipak is to entice the
audience by using small, simple designs and patters, mostly subliminal
messages hidden through the black and white colouring and the photographs,
as this again links in with the alternative theme of our music video.

5. Back cover
For my back cover, I have stuck with the black and white theme and no
background photograph, just plain black. I believe that this gives it
more impact and carries on the running synergy between the black and
white colours and the black and white swan. I did not want to over
complicate the back, as most people only glance at the back and will be
mainly focused on the front. I did not want to clutter the back with any
unnecessary photographs of Claudia and Katy that did not need to be
used. I have already included a photograph on the inner left and on the
front and so I thought that my digipak didn’t need anymore photo’s. All
that I have included is some of Lorde’s other songs from her real album
and placed them on the back, just to make it look like a real digipak. It
matches the conventions of a normal back cover of a digipak as, from
the research I conducted, almost all digipaks include the songs from
their whole album.

6. Overall
Overall, I believe that my digipak is successful as I have included normal
conventions such as copyright information, at the bottom of the back
cover, and a bar code. I have challenged the conventions of a normal
digipak as I have added limited photographs and limited detail whilst
still sticking to the normal conventions of a digipak as well. I believe
that my digipak works well for the type of music video we have created
because it links in with the genre, alternative, and fits in well with the
song that we have decided to use. I also think that it fits in with the
artist herself, Lorde, as she uses quite dark make up in a lot of her
music videos, including her real music video for tennis court, and so
going with the colour black for every part of the digipak was a good
decision.

7. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of a real media product?
For my magazine advert, I abided by many conventions of a real magazine
advert, for example with picture at the top and the writing at the bottom, the
bar code and the main image being the centre of attention. I have also
included the stars from the reviews from many music magazines, such as
billboard and the wire. This shows the audience that the album is
recommended by these magazines and worth buying. Also, the main image I
have used is of Claudia, the main actress who is playing Lorde, staring into the
camera. I had her sitting down in the photograph because the photo that I
used for the front cover of the digipak had her shown standing up, so I wanted
some diversity between the two and so I took a picture of her sitting on a
chair. Also, the fact that the picture is black and white links into the theme of
my digipak as well. Most magazine adverts that I researched had the artist
staring into the camera, as this adds more effect to the image as it feels like
they have a direct link with the audience. I challenged the conventions by
keeping everything very limited and not crowding the poster with lots of
writing, which is what some magazine adverts do. I also used the same font as
I used for the digipak, to create synergy between both the products.

8. Music video
For my music video, I believe that it has many conventions of a normal music
video. For example, we have Claudia miming along to the song, whilst cutting
to different shots of Katy. However, in some ways this also challenges because
in the real music video, Lorde does not mouth anything from her song except
the word ‘yeah.’ We wanted to challenge this original idea as we felt that the
miming would look better in the song. We also followed the convention of the
main artist looking into the camera when she is miming, which Claudia does
throughout the whole video, even in shots when she is not miming. Katy also
does this, down at the river and also after she she put her make up on. We
believed that this feature adds more impact to the video as it feels like they are
looking directly at the reader. We also challenged some conventions, as we
placed the word ‘Lorde’ over Claudia’s face whilst she is miming one part of the
song. Normally, music videos would not have this as it covers the artists face,
but we thought that it showed that the artist is artistic and not afraid to break
the rules. We followed more conventions, such is slow motion and increasing
the speed, which so many music videos use. This benefits our music video
because it gives it some diversity, instead of the video running all the way
through the same way.

9. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary
tasks?
I believe that the combination of our music video and ancillary tasks is very
effective. To make this combination successful, I had to make sure that I had
created synergy between the products successfully. I have done this by using
the same font for both the magazine advert and the digipak, using the same
colour scheme (black and white) and using simple designs for everything,
instead of overly detailed ones. With the combination of the magazine advert,
the digipak and the music video, I strongly believe that when combined
together, they look like real products, products that could actually be used to
promote a real life artists album. I produced my digipak and the magazine
advert before the actual music video was finished, which gave us time to
reflect on how we should edit our music video, what special effects to use and
how we could create synergy between all three products. I have tried to use
similar images, from my digipak to my magazine and also the music video
itself. The pictures I have used include Claudia, who is wearing the same make
up and clothes as she is in parts of the music video, which helped me create
synergy and consistency. Overall, I think that the combination of my products
have helped in achieving a successful look for Claudia as an artist and has
helped me achieve my goal in making everything look as professional as
possible. If I were to improve anything, it would be to change the cover photo
on the digipak to black and white to fit in with the rest of the products to
create more synergy, but I believe that the colour photo is better in terms of
selling the product and not making it look too old fashioned.

10. FinishedDigipakandmagazineadvert