Evaluation

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

The brief of this project was to create a music video, digipak and a website for an unsigned artist; as we had to create three products is was crucial that we knew from the start what ideas and themes we wanted to portray through our video as all three of the products had to link together. Although the tree products are completely different formats we had to ensure that, when put together, the audience would see how effective they all are and how well the three complement each other and promote the artist/ album.

From looking at existing digipaks we decided that the front cover should have an image of the artist against a dark background. As the song we chose, and the rest of titles we chose to include on the album are very emotional and mysterious, we decided that to include an image which shows the artist as extremely powerful and strong would work very well and almost create the artist as someone who the audience will worship and idolise.

The text that we included on top of the image is very simplistic and does not take too much attention away from the artist. Throughout the song the female character is shown as very independent and we can see her standing up for herself and pulling away therefore the continuity of her persona is continued throughout.

While taking images for the digipak we chose a number of different outfits in order to conduct a photo-shoot that we could use both on the digipak and the website which, now looking back at the project, I would have done differently as there is a limited amount of images of the artist. She is only shown dressed in rich, sophisticated outfits, only being shown as a star. Although there is continuity throughout with the images I feel that the way the same style/ attire being used in both the digipak and website limits what we could show the audience and, if this was real, would create a false image of the artist for the ‘fan base’.

When researching theorists, Goodwin’s theory of “reoccurring motifs” was particularly interesting to me therefore I aimed to incorporate this into the video. The theme the artist being an individual throughout all three products is essential. Within all of the images that were taken of the artist she is shown on her own, within the music video the main message that is being conveyed is how she is over her dependence on other people (the male in particular in this case) and how she is a better person without anyone else’s intrusion. I found that mise-en-scene on front covers of digipaks would usually be very a powerful element and would entice the reader into picking up the album. The mise-en-scene on our front cover does just this; the dark background of our cover made the artist stand out and, as she is a new artist, it would attract the audience.

In many modern day images/ covers of younger artist there is a great deal of sexualisation however, by presenting the artist as such an strong woman the cover will not only reach to a teenage audience however people of different ages will be enticed as it creates an idea that many people can appreciate and understand.

Within conventional ‘indie pop’ music videos the colours are usually quite bright however we felt, as the song deals with deeper issues that we would defy this convention; as with the digipak cover. We felt colours that would show the artist off more would be more fitted to the message of the song whereas, in typical videos, the artist will be wearing similar colours to the background showing no real difference between the two, not allowing the artist to stand out at all. As the album is very much an individual and does not show the entire artists persona, the brighter colours on the website and the colours within the two other pieces are not linked in anyway however they allow the audience to see two completely different sides to artist. We used some of the more conventional and generic bright colours (purple and white) on the website in order to allow the audience an idea as to what ‘Olivia Young’s’ real personality is like therefore showing how, although in a number of ways we opposed the conventions, there are also aspects of our project that very much stick to the expectations.

The music video is focused around a very heart-moving song therefore, when creating the digipak we had to come up with song names for some of the other tracks to write on the digipak which continued on these ideas. As the one song title we have is extremely deep and emotional we felt that, in order to continue of the theme throughout the project we would have to create other song titles which gave the same effect. Songs such as ‘thinking inside’ and ‘sunset heart’ also give the impression of very sad, thought provoking songs which was what we aimed to do at the start of the project. The positioning of the artist on this cover creates the impression that she is looking at the song list. Along with her facial expression you could say that she is emphasizing how strong a character she is and how she will not be influenced or affected by the impact of others.

In conclusion, it is clear that the three products, when put together work extremely well. There is a good balance between continuity and differences within the products meaning that, despite there being many recurring ideas throughout, there are some aspects that allow the audience to bring their own perspectives to the article and generate different- and individual- opinions of what they are being shown. 

3: in what ways does your media product stick to or challenge media conventions?