The document discusses how the continuity of branding across the main music video product and ancillary products like the digipak and poster strengthens their effectiveness. Key elements that link the products include consistent depictions of the band members' appearance, themes of feeling trapped in one's city that are portrayed in similar urban settings, and shot continuity between the ending shots of the music video and the front covers of the digipak and poster. The inside of the digipak also creates a sense of togetherness for the band members that is then juxtaposed with their loneliness in the music video. While some initial draft ideas for the ancillary products changed, the final versions complement the main video by summarizing its theme in an

1. How effective is the
combination of your
main product and
ancillary products?
By Alex Wilson.
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2. Band ‘image’.
In answering this question, I intend to show the
strength of my branding across my products. An
important element of this, I think, is the continuity of
the 'look' of the band.
Throughout my video, digipak and poster (as well as the
twitter page) Perplexa are depicted wearing the same
clothes and same hairstyles. Therefore, they can be
identified easily and helps maintain the theme
conveyed by my products.
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3. ‘Big City Prison’ theme.
The theme of the products is epitomised in
the album title 'Big City Prison' - the feeling
of being trapped in their own home city. It
is prevalent in both the video and ancillary
products; the characters and artists in the
video are shown, on the most part, alone in
an urban environment (direct links with 'Big
City Prison'). Similarly, the digipak and
poster use settings present in the video (as
well as the aforementioned costumes)
therefore linking the images on them to the
central theme.
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4. Digipak Shot Continuity.
The digipak front cover, back cover, and poster all use the same
setting and similar positioning (a two-shot) of the artists as that of
some of the final shots of the music video, reinforcing the
continuity and strengthening the links between the products.
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5. Loneliness/Togetherness
Juxtaposition.
As for the inside of my digipak, a 'split-face'
technique is used. The inside left panel uses
half of Andy's face, and the inside right uses
half of Ricky's. This creates the effect of the
artists being 'one' in the form of the band.
'Perplexa'. This togetherness is then
juxtaposed in the music video, as the artists
are rarely featured alongside each other in it.
By contrast, a feeling of loneliness is created,
which - because of the togetherness
portrayed through the digipak -'hits home'
more effectively in the video.
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6. Main/Ancillary Product
Relationship.
I feel the rapport between the music video and the ancillary
products has progressed since the inital draft I produced. Whilst
some of the ideas of the digipak have remained from the draft,
the execution of them has been developed. I also feel like both
my main and ancillary products compliment each other well: the
music video brings the images seen on the digipak and poster to
life and fleshes them out into a true story. It does this by sharing
the elements mentioned above. On the other hand, the digipak
and poster sum up the theme of the music video in an easily
digestible format, able to be used in advertising the video, and
giving the products a 'face' to be identified with.
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7. Digipak/Poster Relationship.
There is also a uniformity between my poster and
digipak - both use the same settings, the artists
(obviously) and the same fonts. In a way, the poster
looks like a larger version of the digipak, converted
into an advertisement.
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8. Draft to Final Digipak
Progression.
Of course, there are elements which didn't
work, that I chose not to bring forward from
the draft ancillary products. The most
prominent one was my draft digipak back
cover. The idea was to use a long shot of
Leicester's signature Clock Tower as it's easily
identified by the people of Leicestershire and
would therefore appeal to the audience as a
sense of pride. However, its surroundings are
not ideal for the theme I was aiming to
convey in my products. For instance, a
building adjacent to the clock tower is very
Tudor in its style, which is not in keeping
with my 'concrete jungle', 'big city prison'
aesthetic. So, for my final, I changed it to a
simple brick wall which faultlessly and
effortlessly supported my theme of the ‘Big
City Prison’.
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