Media Studies evaluation question 1 a2

2.  A promotion package for the release of an
album, to include a music promo video,
together with two of the following three
options:
 a website homepage for the band
 a cover for its release as part of a digipak
(CD/DVD package)
 a magazine advertisement for the digipak
(CD/DVD package)

3.  For the magazine advertisement research I
decided to look at previous magazine posters
created by artists from many genres, in order
to see if techniques used vary from genre to
genre.

4.  For the digipak research I decided, again, to
look into previous examples by artists,
including looking at examples by the artist
who performs our song, G-Eazy.

5.  In this case Downtown fits into the Hip hop
genre and we wanted to transpose this hip
hop genre “look” across our magazine and
digipak.
 We felt that it was important as it would allow
the target audience to easily identify it from
other genres, for example pop music
products normally feature the band/artist’s
face.

6.  To be able to do this we had to research into
the aesthetic conventions of the Hip hop
genre. These are;
 Extremes of colour, either very dark or very
bright
 More of a focus on the band name rather
than a picture of band members
 Often an abstract/symbolic image is used

7.  The magazine advertisement uses many
aesthetic conventions of the hip hop genre
through colour. As you can see the logo is
filled with bright, vibrant colours and it is set
on a white background. The text is multi-
coloured matching the reverse of the
background.

8.  The digipak again meets the aesthetic
conventions of the hip hop genre also. We
have used the same theme as in the poster.
 The leaflet inside the digipak again uses this
contrast of colour, with the white background
and the bright images inside the text. Linking
the three products.

9.  Our main product contains the song
“Downtown love” and is therefore in the hip
hop genre, although our product doesn't
contain generic conventions of a hip hop
music video.

10.  On one hand I believe that we were
successful. This is because all of our products
met the generic aesthetic conventions of the
hip hop music video genre as shown through
the bright and colour contrast across our
products. However, I do believe that to
improve the link through genre we should
have focused more on the narrative, as this is
often the main focus of a hip hop music
video.

11.  In terms of mise en scene perhaps we also
should have found a lighter location as it was
hard to expose the shot properly. Extending
from this point, the members perhaps should
have also been older, again to match the
aesthetic conventions of the hip hop music
genre.

12.  To conclude I believe that there are a number
of ways the combination of our three texts
could have been more successful. Our mise
en scene could be improved by change of
setting to a darker location for the band
performance as it doesn't match the dark
theme in the ancillary products and the main
production.

13.  Our casting could also be improved, both our
ancillary products fit nicely with the
conventions of the hip hop music video
genre. The actors stand out as not fitting with
the conventions as the rappers and singers
should have been older and into their 20s.

14.  However, there are also many ways that our
three texts are a successful combination.
 There is a running colour scheme across the
three texts whether it be visually or
metaphorically.
 The idea of Downtown is present through out
all of our products, as the poster is set
“Downtown” aswell as music video and
digipak.

15.  The main actors being used across the magazine
advertisement and the digipak will allow the
audience to easily identify the products as being
connected, therefore it will be more noticeable in
shops. We have also displayed the logo on both
the magazine advertisement and the digipak. We
kept the logo very similar to the original so again
it will be easily identifiable. However perhaps the
logo should have been shown at the beginning of
our music video to create further synergy.