How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? Second Evaluation Question for media studies

1. How effective is the combination of your main product
and ancillary texts?

2. At the bottom of our ancillary text of the magazine advertisement we
used cross media convergence of web links. These included an official
website and social media links of Facebook and Twitter. These were
important to include in our ancillary text as Genre is not simply ‘given’ by the
culture: rather it is a constant process of negotiation and change said by
David Buckingham. In recent years there has been social change which means
how the audience use the platform of the internet has adapted. By placing
these links it allows the audience to use the uses and gratifications model to
get more information of the release of the album. For example on their official
website there is a link to their social media accounts of Facebook and Twitter.
By using this cross media convergence it allows the audience to gather more
information, this informing the audience of our other ancillary text the digipak.
By using cross media convergence it links to Henry Jenkins idea of entry points.
Parts of the audience that follow the band on social media will find out about
the album release in a different way. However, the main product of the for reasons
unknown music video is on the internet platform of YouTube. This is an accessible
platform to the audience as it can be accessed via apps on phones and the internet
on the computer. On YouTube the video can then be shared back to other places on the internet like social media, by using this cross
media convergence it allows the audience to interact with the main text and find about the surrounding texts. The use of the internet
platform for all of our products allows the audience to quickly gain access to our products which as the audience is teenagers they’re
stereotypically seen to be always on social media. By doing this it reinforces the album to the audience and this will allow it to get more
publically noticed and viral to the public making these products relate to each other and make it easier to sell the album. This allows us to
advertise our products for the album online as well as in print production like music magazines and billboards. By doing so it makes it
interactive for the audience and links to modern media like Taylor Swift using social media to add a viral stigma around the music video
‘Bad Blood’ by doing so it matches the media that other musicians use and making the album more worldwide known to the public.
Web Links
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

3. Reference to the band is clear throughout all of our products. This was done to help
sell the album and reinforce the band members image. In the main text and ancillary
text of the digipak the band is visually shown in a similar way implying the idea that
they’re a part of the same world, which reinforces that the music video is for this
album. For example the vocalist is seen the most in the main text and by visually
referencing to the band this links the products together and shows that it is the
same band. In the digipak all the band members are wearing the same clothing in
the music video. By doing this it visually connects the products together to show
they’re a part of the same album and by using this clothing it reinforces the music
video. This allows the texts to be linked together quite quickly, as when the audience
see the image of the vocalist in the digipak they will use the uses and gratifications
model (Denis McQuail – 1987) to gain information that this song is a part of the
album. As they’re only small images on the digipak it will link back to the music video
as the audience want to see more of the band as they identify with them and the music. Making the
audience go back and forth between products. The main text visually references Andrew Goodwin's
idea that music videos contain performance. This is especially true in the indie/alternative rock genre.
By placing so many shots of the band members it references that parts of the music video is a band
performance, this is effective as it visually shows what may be in the DVD ‘live footage’ of the digipak. As some of the audience enjoy the
live performance element this will link them to the album and make them more likely to buy it connecting the products together. In the
magazine advertisement the bands logo is used to reference the band which is shown on the digipak also. By using this it shows who the
album is by and connects visually as the audience understand that this is the bands logo making them connect to the band members.
Band Members
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

4. In the ancillary text of the digipak we
wanted to make the track names relate
to one another and have a certain theme
to them. Our first track was for reasons
unknown, which all the other products mention also.
This was done to show that all the products are
connected and they're all part of the same album era.
The second track name was ‘The Lost’ this links
directly to the album and the other ancillary text of the
magazine advertisement. This is the album name and
by using this on the ancillary texts it shows what they’re
connected. Although it is not directly mentioned in the
music video of ‘The Lost’ the narrative of the character
looks lost within himself where he keeps continuously
running around the station trying to find the other
character implying this feeling of lost internally and externally. This reinforces the album name and by making that little connection visually
to the audience it advertises our product to the audience. In the track names there is reference between the main text of the music video
and ancillary texts. For example one of the track names ‘move away’ references the music video where that is what the character is doing.
By mentioning this track it shows that this could be a follow up track from the music video. As Steve Neale demonstrated: Genres are
instances of repetition and difference. In the track names they all have a similar concept following the overall promotional package theme of
being darker and linking the track names to this idea of lost love and upset. This links the products together as the music video is about lost
love and in The Killers previous albums lots of their music has focused on this and links it to the bands image by making it similar people
are more likely to connect to it. For example ‘just another girl’ could imply the end of the narrative where the male character begins to let go
of the mysterious female. By using these visual links it links the products together showing an example of synergy. Our track names also
include re-recorded tracks, these link to the overall feel of the album and these are demo and bonus tracks which wouldn’t usually be
placed in one of their albums. By using this we’re using older elements of The Killers to makes the album more intriguing to the audience to
purchase it. By using this it links the audience back to previous albums and when they hear these songs they know they can purchase them
on the new album and shows that the other songs in the album resemble this tone and makes the audience more intrigued. By using this
we’re using older songs to help promote the album and what type of tone and theme it has.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Track Names

5. All of the texts reference the track ‘for reasons unknown’ this is a major
selling point for our album and by referencing this throughout the
products it allows the audience to know that this song is featured on the
album. In the ancillary text: the magazine advertisement, this track is
used as a selling point: ‘featuring the hit single ‘for reasons unknown,’ this is done to
reference the music video to the audience. Members of the audience who are unsure
at what this song is will be able to search for it and this references that the main text
and ancillary text are part of the same world. In the other ancillary text of the digipak the
track is mentioned a few times on what is featured in the digipak. The song is the first
track that is listed on the CD. This links to this idea that this song is important and as it
is number one could link to this idea that this single is the number one track of the
album which reinforces the audience to watch the music video as it is a main feature in
the album. On the DVD section of the digipak there is mention of music video collections which features for reasons unknown by placing
the tracks name again it references it’s importance and this part of the digipak instantly links to our main text. Another feature included in
the digipak is behind the scenes footage of music videos. This links back to the main text as the audience will get to see the making behind
the video and those parts of the audience who are visually engaged to the band will be intrigued by this feature. The use of for reasons
unknown is an example of synergy. By placing the track and music video in our digipak and the music video online it allows the audience
different access points to the main text. By allowing the audience to view and listen to the track in various ways it reinforces the album to
the audience and makes them more intrigued to buy it if it is seen to be a popular song on the album.
For Reasons Unknown
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

6. Throughout all the texts to promote the album
the use of colour was important. This is as we
wanted to create a darker tone to reinforce the
albums concept. In the ancillary texts of the
digipak and magazine advertisement, the use of
colour is visually similar and by using this it
allows us to use synergy and connects the
products together and when seeing the colours
the audience will recognise the colour and know
what album it is for. This is important as future
advertising for the album and tours for the album
would use this colour to relate back to the album
and make it more recognisable. The use of dark
colours like black is consistent of these print
productions with hints of purple and blue within
the images. By using this colour theme throughout these products it allows them to familiarise with it
as Sonia Livingstone said: Different genres specify different 'contracts‘ to be negotiated between the
text and the reader. The audience expect the promotional packaging – especially the print productions
to relate to one another so when the audience see one text they think of the other texts. By doing this
it is an expectation and it helps us reinforce and sell the album. Our main product uses colour in a
different way. This is as most music videos don’t use all the colour conventions in the album but the main text connects to other music video
releases. For example the next single from the album will have a similar colour tone to the for reasons unknown music video to show
they’re part of the same genre. However, although the colour tone used is slightly different there is a colder sense to the video – this is
especially done in the narrative. This is done in the narrative to connect the audience to the lyrics of the song and by making them think
about the music rather than the video it links them back to the album. The use of colour uses a blue and colder tones, in the flashback
scene this is seen to be much colder with less colour. This darker colour in the flashback scene may have fitted better in the whole video to
instantly connect the products together. However by using a subtle cold colour it intrigues the audience making them know that this is part
of the same album era and by using this darker colour filters on all productions it allows it to resemble a good promotional package for the
album as it references the darkness throughout all the productions.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Colour

7. The use of location is interesting in our products. In the main
text we decided to use the intertextuality of York Train Station.
This links the audience to other media products and means
that when they next see another media product with York
Train Station they will think of The Killers and their album. The
use of this location contrasts the ancillary texts of the digipak
and magazine advertisement. By using this contrast it is
interesting, however in the music video the narrative shows
that the character is moving away (this also is an
intertextual reference to one of the songs on the album). By
using this idea of him moving away it references that the
character is moving to the location of the album. One of the
scenes in the music video is of the character looking at a train
board. Although it does not directly say where the character is
going the board says ‘London’ this references to the audience
that this is where the character will be lost. As this is the first
single for the album it could link to the idea that as this song has been
released before the album he is not in a cityscape yet and is a pre-song to
the album. By using this it intrigues the audience and him moving away
could reference the location on the digipak and magazine advertisement.
By using a location the audience are familiar with it connects them –
especially British members of the audience. As The Killers have a big
British fan base it links that the album is going to be more like their older
albums as the UK is where one of their first fan bases started. By doing this
it connects the fans and raises the bands image of this album. Although
the texts are working separately the use of contrast interlinks them through
the album of ‘The Lost’ by putting small references in it engages the
audience and allows the products to work together in slightly different
ways. By using this smaller location in the music video it implies this idea
that they’re a niche audience which is common in this genre.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Location

8. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Record Label
The record label is displayed on both
ancillary texts of the digipak and
advertisement. This is shown by using
the official logos, on both ancillary texts
they’re placed in the same position. By
doing this it connects the ancillary texts
together as by placing them in the same
way it implies a certain house style to the
products and that they’re part of the
same album era. To reference the record
label: Island Records - based in the UK
that is a division of Universal Music Group (UMG).
We decided to make the music video similar to other
musicians with this record label. By doing this it
connects it to the record label, making it more realistic
to the audience. As most music videos include a
narrative and performance with lots of close-ups of
the musicians as said by Andrew Goodwin we
decided to use this in our music video also. This is
used similarly in Fall Out Boy’s music videos. As
they’re based in the rock genre and are part of the
Island record label making this connection will link
fans of theirs to The Killers making them more likely
to buy the album. By doing this it allows us to resemble the record label and by making it professional it allows the audience to know that
the other ancillary texts for this album are professional too. As Island Records is based in the UK this is why we decided to place the music
video in the UK this was as it resembles the label. The use of the a professional simple layout to the digipak and advertisement and music
video links the products together and implies the sound of the album. By using these simple effects it shows that this album is part of Island
records and as this is a well know record label it makes the audience know that the album will be good and reinforces them to
purchase it.

9. For our promotional packaging for the album we used
different types of media to get the audience interested in the
album release. The main text was a music video, this is an
important feature and is a main feature of album releases, by
placing this it instantly promotes what type of album it is and
how the audience can connect to it emotionally. By using
Andrew Goodwin's idea of concept throughout the whole
music video of lost love it links to the other products in the
promotional packaging. The music video was the most
important text as they get to use a technology platform to
share the video and by using a music video it makes the
audience aware that The Killers are soon to release a new
album. Although most advertising today is done online we
used a magazine advertisement poster to advertise the
album. This advertisement talks about the single ‘for reasons
unknown’ by using this text is implies synergy and allows them to go onto another media platform
to get more engaged with the album release. The use of a magazine advertisement is important as
lots of people still buy music magazines and as The Killers are from the indie/rock genre it allows
them to be in several types of rock magazines including: NME & Kerrang. This allows them to be
noticed by several people as the audience buy magazines which means the audience can use
different entry points to access the album and its release. The use of the advertisement is
universal so it could easily be advertised as images online to the audience. By making the
advertisement adaptable it means it can go on billboards, leaflets etc. This means they see that the
advertisement is adaptable and is easy to make it viewable to the audience to make them aware of the album release. The other ancillary
text. The digipak is important as it shows the audience the album and features it includes. This
use of media is very important in the music industry and having a physical copy of this is important as some older fans may still use stores
like HMV to get access to their albums and use CD’s. However, this digipak could easily placed online to iTunes which will make it online
accessible. By using these things in an adaptive way it makes the productions more easily accessed to so the audience know about them
and are more likely to buy it if they can see and buy it in several different ways. By using different media technologies it allows the audience
to find out through different entry points (Henry Jenkins) making it interesting for all the audience.
Type of media used
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?