1. Evaluation- Question 2
Q2.) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
My group and I Created a documentary called ‘Makeup your mind’ and the documentary
focuses on how youtube has affected the makeup industry, Cruelty free products, having a
job in the makeup industry and advertisement of makeup product; all which are related to the
topic of makeup. After we created the documentary we created the print advert which related
well with our documentary because of the makeup connotations from the image. The final
product we made was the radio trailer which also related to our documentary well because of
the use of the same voice over and interview clips.
One thing that is a crucial part of a documentary is
the title which is named ‘Makeup your mind’ and
was duplicated between all three of the products.
The purpose of a title is to give an insight into what
the documentary is about briefly allowing the
audience to makeup their mind whether or not they
want to watch the documentary or not.
For the documentary we had the opening sequence
so that individual makeup products came in one
after another creating a collage of makeup, and when this collage was made the title
‘Makeup your mind’ was shown will the effect of a ‘cross dissolve’ which allows the title to
fade in and out of the documentary smoothly. We made sure to make the title stand out by
using a 3D effect, had it all in capitals and made the colour of it pink to make it stand out
from the background but still reflecting the colour scheme.
Likewise, on our print advert we included
the title which is situated in the bottom, left
hand corner. Again, we used the same title
for this print advert as the documentary
because this way it advertises the ‘Makeup
your mind’ documentary. The typography
for the title is bigger than the other writing on the page which illustrates to the audience that
that is the title. By doing this it catches the audience's eye and they have a better chance of
remembering the name of the documentary.
We have also used the title of
‘Makeup your mind’ for the radio
trailer were we included it at the
end of the sequence which is used
to inform the audience what the documentary is about which is very important as they cannot
see visually what it is about so they must hear it from the audio. By doing this it advertises
the documentary to the audience.
In relation to this, we also
included the slogan in the print
advert and the radio trailer
alongside the title of the documentary. This is used to give even more information about the
documentary. Our slogan is a rhetorical question which may initiate a response from the
audience to want to find out the answer resulting in them watching the documentary.
2. However, due to my group and I not including the slogan into our documentary this shows a
lack of continuity.
Whilst planning what voice over we will be including in our documentary we decided to use a
young woman's voice as this best relates to our target audience. We were happy with this
voice over after recording as it turned out very clear and understandable, also the voice of
the voiceover is very cheerful which, again, relates with the topic of our documentary.
We used the same voiceover for our radio trailer as this allows the two products to link well
to each other and presents continuity. By doing this it allows the audience to recognise the
voice resulting in there being a strong link between ancillary texts. Again, we used this voice
over for the radio trailer aswell because it has a cheerful tone to it and my group and I found
this links well with the documentary topic.
We decided to choose the channel of Channel 4 because we found as
through our documentary fits into the type of genres that Channel 4 airs
as it is informal and we found that this channel was best relevant for our
target audience. Channel 4 states that “The logo is the primary element
of that identity”. Therefore we ensured that we included the traditional
Channel 4 sign to make sure that it looks like a professional/ real
Channel 4 print advert. We made sure that the Channel 4 sign was big
enough for it to catch the audience's eye to indicate they understand
which channel it is on. We have also done this due to
Channel 4 having popularity in the television industry and
so when people see the logo on the print advert they will
want to go and watch it.
In addition to this, the channel name is announced clearly at the end of the
radio trailer which allows allows the two products to link well together which
insinuates continuity.
Within the radio trailer there are sound bite clippings were we have included small audio
clips from some of the interviews that we have filmed which has been selected in relation to
how well they illustrate what is going to be talked about in the documentary. This will allow
the audience to recognise the voices from the radio trailer when they watch the documentary
which will make it much more identifiable.
3. Initially, our print advert main image focus is to best present connotations of makeup to
illustrate to the audience what the documentary will be about. This is very important for a
professional print advert because the main image if the first thing that the audience will see
and so it must capture their attention. For this to do so we have made sure the image has
been taken and presented clearly and so that it takes up the majority of the print advert
space. The topic of documentary is clearly presented in the print advert due to the use of
makeup brushes/ products that feature in the image, alongside the model who is wearing a
full face of makeup. We have made sure that this is the main focus of the image as we have
made the background plain pink which does not take away from the main image, but still
links with the colour scheme and topic of our documentary.
One way which the print advert includes themes
from the documentary is from the use of Makeup
brushes angled so that the model looks as though
she is getting her makeup done professionally
which relates to the theme of having a career in the
makeup industry. This is talked about throughout all
four of the interviews as all of the interviewees have
a career in the makeup industry.
4. One other aspect that is mentioned in the interview
with the self taught makeup artist is how she likes
doing makeup on clients because “it makes them
feel good about themselves and helps with their
confidence”. This is evident in the print advert due
to the model's facial expression being very
confident looking, backing up this statement as the
model does in fact feel good as a result of getting
her makeup done.
The model in the photograph also uses direct address because of the eye contact which can
result to the audience feeling as though it is aimed at them in a way which concludes to them
wanting to watch the documentary
As a result of this, the print advert clearly anchors the topic of documentary and so it is
evident to the audience as to what the documentary is about. When editing the print advert
we used Photoshop and initially the main image of the model was taken alone, without the
makeup brushes which we later taken, cropped using lasso tool and then placed onto the
image to reflect the topic of makeup. We also airbrushed the models face to make her skin
even and to make it look much brighter. We have also adjusted the brightness and contrast
of the hands in the image so that they too stand out as they are a key part of the main image
as they best connote the topic of makeup as something positive.
The tone of our documentary is informal shown by the voiceover and interviews through the
documentary and radio trailer. Throughout all three products we have used direct address
which can result to the audience feeling as though the documentary is personal to them,
concluding to them wanting to watch the documentary; an example of this is, in the print
advert we have included the personal pronoun of ‘you’ and also by the use of direct address
by the model in the main image. As mentioned previously, we have also stuck to a colour
scheme in our products (except radio trailer) which consists of pink and white, this has been
used to make it look professional which shows our continuity.
We included music in our documentary and Radio trailer which consisted of only one song
throughout which was ‘Vogue’ By Madonna, which had been chosen because the song is all
about beauty and so that means this fits in with our topic of makeup, and also because it is a
upbeat song which gives the documentary and voiceover a happy vibe to it. The music
featured in the opening sequence of the documentary, during voiceover parts I the
documentary and also throughout the whole duration of the radio trailer.
