A2 Media Studies Coursework Evaluation

1. Patrick Brennan

2. Introduction
O My A2 media studies coursework
required my group and I to create a
music video which combined with a
DigiPak and Magazine advert to
promote the “bands” music. Pop is
the genre of our production,
therefore is included the semiotics
and conventions of this genre within
all three of my products. I chose to
do this to have a direct correlation
and theme within all the products so
the band has a clear image which
they can be associated.

3. The Products...
Magazine
Advert
Album / CD
DigiPak
Music Video

4. Album Cover

5. Front Cover
It is visible that the layout of the front covers are quite similar. I really like the cartooned effect on Jason
DeruIo’s album and decided to use the same idea, therefore I used the cutout tool to emphasize Luke's
facial features whilst also increasing the light levels continuing the theme of light which coincides
throughout our whole production and ancillary tasks. It was important to capture his mood which as is
visible in the album cover is frustrated, determined and intense, as this clearly represents the emotions
in our music video. I love the simplicity of the image, it contrasts with the narrative in our music video
which exemplifies what troubles and what effect it has on the mind of people who struggle in a difficult
breakup. I did originally question the opacity and cartooning of Luke's face as Jason Derulo is a very
iconic figure in the music industry and therefore can afford to have his image cartoonified whereas our
band is only just reaching the music scene so it is questionable whether we can afford to loose a sense
of identity. Further more I am a big fan of Coldplay's recent album and I love the bright imagery on the
front cover. I tried to incorporate this into Omega’s album cover, the dramatic rainbow colour scheme is
perfect for our Album cover as it adheres to the conventions of our music videos’ lyrics “can you see me
I'm shining.” Finally the cartoon on our front cover is very simplistic which contrasts our elaborate shots
within our production, yet we have contrasted the bright colours with our deep blue background using
semiotics to represent the upset and morbid behavior as Luke as he attempt to overcome his breakup.

6. Continuation
I thought it was imperative to place the band title in
the middle/bottom of the album cover to give a
sense of symmetry and importance as the Album
is promoting the band. Moreover I like how the
band name almost wraps around the album
which almost acts as a metaphor stating that the
album is owned by the band yet it is for the
publics pleasure. The font I used I found on
www.fontmeme.com. I decided to use this font
style because I liked how on this image the thick
sharp font stood out against the images in the
background which is what I thought was
necessary, we need to get our name out there
into the music industry rather than playing
around with pretty images in the background. We
can resort to contemporary images in the future
once our band has lifted off. Therefore choosing
this font will allow the name to stand out. I also
loved how the font was sharp as this epitomized
the breakup during the music video, there was
no messing around, Luke ended it and then had
to prepare to move on without her.

7. Track List
This is the Track list, on researching track lists
of real media products, I realised that there
was a lack in creativity involving the layout
and design of the Track Lists. There was a
monotonous continuation of lists of songs one
after the other, therefore I chose to display our
songs in a ‘cloud’ format where they are
ordered in size of popularity, "Shine" being the
largest therefore they will attain more attention
for our audience who may look for our songs
along the isle. The same background has
been used to create a sense of harmony
between each of the slides, it would look
unprofessional to change the theme on each
individual tile. The font which is edgy and bold
representing Luke's bold choice to leave and
break off his relationship, giving him a sense
of relief, yet the bold writing is slightly 'in your
face' representing the shocking situation Luke
found himself in during the narrative of our
music video. Luke's anger at Alice's betrayal.

8. Poster Tile
The page consists of all our
band members, I thought
this would be a useful slide
as it displays all of us
together as a group
representing the unity
between us. Despite Liam
cheating with Alice, Ben and
I represent our groups close
bond helping Luke get back
on his feet. Furthermore this
tile will include a free poster
of the same art work
included in the DigiPak as a
sign of appreciation for our
fans for buying our first
album.

9. Lyric Tile
This is the lyrics page, as you can see Luke is
again a main feature on the slide, however I have
included the entire song lyrics on the slide so that
our audience can sing along with our hit song
"Shine," whilst they play it on the CD. I will admit
that it is difficult to read the lyrics, a problem I
would resurrect if I was to complete this task again,
perhaps it would be easier to create a plain dark
background therefore focusing on the lyrics rather
than the chaos behind. The background is slightly
different to the other tiles, as I have included a
scene of tranquility, a photo taken by myself on the
River Thames in London. I chose to include this as
it is harmonious with the semiotics of water and
peace which we used in our music video. I believe
this tile is effective as the combination of the lyrics,
figure head and conventions of water all relate to
our music video, therefore creating a harmonious
production.

10. Meet The Band
This slide is the "Meet the Band" section,
just in case our fans didn't know what we
looked like I chose to include ‘selfies’ a
recent colloquial craze in the pop world,
therefore representing our genre, and
personality; further more it is a
stereotype of the genre that fans may
even adapt their speech to adhere to the
colloquial language of their favourite
genre therefore, by incorporating a
‘selfie’ our band becomes more relatable
to our audience. This also represents our
age demographic as our target audience
is the youthful age between 14-20,.
Further more I chose to place them at
the bottom of the slide, keeping the
attention on Liam and Luke, our two
main band members, by changing their
colouring to yellow, drawing in the
attention of our audience.
Next we used the same fonts as
before for the title of the band and
the track listing, this again gives
the CD a rounded off feeling.

11. CD Tile
This tile will be where the
CD is placed within the
DigiPak, I chose to keep this
tile simple, therefore not
reducing anything from the
CD or taking the importance
from it. It could be
suggested that the images
and colouring used within
our DigiPak has
connotations of the
electronic genre, however I
believed the dramatic
rainbow colour scheme was
perfect for our Album cover
as it adheres to the
conventions of our music
videos’ lyrics “can you see
me I'm shining.

12. Magazine Advert

13. Magazine
I explored ways in which I could create
continuity between my DigiPak and the
magazine, however a singular image such as
that of Lana Del Ray in her advert didn’t look
correct on our advert, therefore I chose to create
a group photo, combining four separate images
together on Photoshop unifying our group.
Predominantly I felt it was a necessity to include
the deep blue colour which was so apparent on
our DigiPak therefore allowing continuity
between all our products. I incorporated the
same fonts and images from the ancillary and
changed the contrast of the band members to
make them look more outstanding from the
engulfing background. I believed it was essential
to display the date and album name, as my
research showed me other pop advertisements
did this to inform their fans when their most
recent album could be bought

14. How does it Link?
First and foremost, the obvious link between the music video and our
magazine the band members, as all band members had a role on screen in
our music video, they are all known to our audience. Therefore, by including
all of them in our magazine, we can gain some exposure. Furthermore, it is
regular occurrence in popular culture that the male gaze takes place, which
refers to mostly white, heterosexual men as entitled to all of the privileges
awarded to gazers, entitlement to view women and to discuss and exploit
their bodies without consequence. We chose to exploit this, including
ourselves in the magazine, DigiPak and Music video therefore leaning
towards a female fan base. Furthermore we have chose to continue the
same background image, therefore representing the strong links between
the album, music video and magazine. This could also help our audience
differentiate our music from others as they will know the deep blue
background is associated with our group. The Style, which is pop/ indie pop
is current in both the video and ancillary tasks, all our products are edgy and
incorporate the themes and semiotics within our music video, for example
the idea of light; we shot many different light sources during our music
video, yet the light on our album and magazine is within the wording
colouring which is yellow and white representing the bands logo as an
escape from the darkness of the background and Luke’s relationship
troubles.

15. How does it Link?
There is an obvious selling point in our music video, hope and
gratification. This comes across in both the ancillary and the video,
through the story line involving Luke our protagonist attempt to take
back his life after a breakup, yet our audience can decode this in
anyway they choose perhaps using gratification theory to associate it
with there own problems, further more, the Album artwork incorporates
Luke’s sombre state from the music video, therefore linking the
emotions and feeling from the music video to the Ancillary task.
Ultimately I believe the genre is obvious in both tasks, the photography
and editing on the ancillary task has a combination of bright bold
colours as well as emotion which is the same as the video. The shots
have been edited to encourage a quick pace incorporating numerous
different angles engaging the audience in our productions which will
hopefully encourage them to purchase our album. The Ancillary task I
believe embodies the hatred, depression and upset Luke felt during the
early stages of his breakup as the deep blue background has
conventions of such emotions.

16. Conclusion
Our audience is able to view our genre associated
colour scheme and how it relates to our music
video whilst also revealing how up to date the
band is. The colour scheme of blue, gold and
white displays the Pop/Indie Pop genre and the
emotions and themes covered in the music video.
The fact that Luke’s face is used as a literal figure
head for our band emphasises the unity between
our products, allowing the band to be recognised
and develop. Overall I believe that not only do the
music video and ancillary task work together but
they work in harmony complimenting each other
too. They clearly show genre, style and selling
point with the use of colour, font and photography.