Evaluation - Task 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
When creating the music video, digipak and website, I kept in mind that they had to have synergy in order to create a brand identity, however, the three products also had to be slightly different so that they do not bore the audience. From my research, I found that this is vital for a promotional package (especially for the digipak) - the audience needs to identify the artist's image/personality, what he explores in his music.
I chose to shoot the images for the ancillary task in a different setting to the music video, as the album art will link to the song ‘Stressed out’ on the album, and the music video. The abstract images of the artist in the digipak compliments the open-ended narrative of the music video. However, the artist and his clothing in the music video is also seen in the ancillary tasks, thus making it easier for audiences to identify the artist from the video, website, and digipak. The image of the candle on the ancillary tasks compliments the symbolism explored in the music video. This enhances the depressing, nostalgic lyrics that Twenty One Pilots explores in their music, and adheres to the teenage angst in the Rock/Alternative rock genre.
Digipak
This appears when you scroll down on the music page.
Website
Music video
Describe your image.
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Themes:
The theme of mental illness runs through the main product and the ancillary tasks. On a visual level, the breakdown scene at the end of the music video parallels the images of the artist screaming and having a panic attack in the digipak. The album name, Blurryface, is reflected in the imagery on the cover of the digipak, as the medium close up of the artist is taken at a long exposure, creating the effect of a blurry face. This adds to the theme of mental illness as it depicts the feelings pent up inside a person struggling with mental illness. The album name, Blurryface, creates an image of a person’s face being out of focus/blurry from fast movements. This is seen in the narrative of my music video as the artist gets a Blurryface when he shakes his head quickly during the mental breakdown sequence of my music video. This theme is also prevalent in my website as the cover of the digipak is featured on the homepage and is the main focus of the page, brining the audiences attention to the theme of mental illness.
The theme of Nostalgia is also explored through the main product and ancillary texts. I have displayed nostalgia through the symbolism of a candle. The candle acts as a symbol for the artist, in the video it can be seen that the candle is extinguished, signifying that the artist has lost his hopes, dreams and passions in life and just wants to go back to a simplistic way of life (His childhood) in order to escape from his responsibilities and work. This theme is carried across onto the digpak and website. On the digipak and website there are visual connections. The digipak has two images of the candle that are displayed, one where the flame is alight and another where it is extinguished with a quote from the song’s lyrics. These images are taken directly from the music video shoot, so the symbolism is carried over between the two products. Additionally, the image of the extinguished candle is also featured on the homepage of the website, so there is a direct link to the video and digipak visually and through the use of symbolism. This culminates to create a brand for the artist, as the candle and flame imagery will be associated with Twenty One Pilots, so it could act as a brand mark. This is common amongst many artists; for example, slipknot’s brand mark is a Two-headed ram. So, synergy and a brand marking is established between the three products. Moreover, there is a direct link between the digipak and the music video, through the typography and imagery featured on the digipak as a line from the song’s lyrics are featured on the digipak, thus strengthening the synergy between the two products.
I feel like I have developed my skills in incorporating themes into my work. During my rock magazine I used the prop of a guitar and the outfit of the rock star to incorporate and connote the genre of rock music, whereas in year 13 I have used a wider variety of techniques to promote synergy across my products through the depiction of a theme. I have used techniques such as: Video editing – speeding up video clips, photo manipulation through Photoshop etc.
So, personally I feel that I have been successful in showing synergy between my three products through the theme of mental illness and depression as I have thoroughly displayed it in the music video and ancillary texts. However, some members of my target audience may not read into this deeper meaning due do the issue being quite complex. However, feedback from my target audience has reassured my worries, as most of them were able to see the issue of mental health being explored in my music video and ancillary texts, so they were able to see synergy and continuity between my products.
Design
I feel the design that I have created for the three products has created synergy by allowing my audience to make references to things such as the colour scheme of my digipak. I have taken inspiration from professional rock music videos and the conventions that the follow. Music videos like ‘Numb’ by Linkin Park utilise a dull colour tone, one that uses cold colours like black and grey. I have implemented this colour scheme in my music video and ancillary texts, a key example of this can be seen when looking at the relationship that my digipack front cover, website homepage and music video all have. The design for the digipack front cover has been taken from a location seen in my music video. The location is the media studio, where I filmed the candle scenes. The imagery of the candle is present in my digipak as it features as the back cover image. There is also another picture of the candle when it is extinguished which is on a separate panel, which connects it directly to the music video as the image is taken from the music video shoot and it features lyrics from the song on the panel. The media studio location can also been seen in photographs displayed on my website homepage, as there is the same image of the extinguished candle from the digipak featured on the homepage, thus connecting the website, digipak and music video visually and symbolically due to the symbolism and connotations behind the imagery of the candle. The candle acts as a symbol for the artist, in the video it can be seen that the candle is extinguished, signifying that the artist has lost his hopes, dreams and passions in life and just wants to go back to a simplistic way of life (His childhood) in order to escape from his responsibilities and work. Additionally, the image of the candle only uses the colours black and white, these colours are also present in the homepage of my website. Therefore I feel that I have created synergy between all three media products because of the attention to detail that I have included when making the overall theme and symbolic connections of all three designs. By keeping the colours used in all three media products very similar my target audience will be able to make easy comparisons between my music video, website and digipack.
Although I had successfully made all three media products using the same style, I still felt that my music video was not as strong as the other media products. This is because I found it much harder to incorporate the black, white and orange colour scheme that is displayed on my website and digipak. However, from the client research that I gathered after finishing the products, I was more confident in my products as my target audience were able to make links between my products easily.
Last year, I showed a very little synergy across the two magazines that I made. The reason for this is because the magazines had very different target audiences. The school magazine was had a much more broader target audience, where I had to appeal to all young male students, whereas the music magazine had a much more niche target audience, focusing on teenagers who were fans of rock music.
Furthermore the level of synergy that I was able to display last year was limited way because the lack of freedom that we had as we had to follow a semi-strict outline. Additionally the media technologies that I used were very limited in terms of how I could show the link between the two magazines. As the year 13 media project involved much more freedom in terms of what we could design I feel that I have displayed synergy adequately. Furthermore, the year 13 project also required the use of much more sophisticated technology, which I feel Improved my ability to display synergy across all three products that I made.
Colour Scheme:
Using the narrative and themes of the music video as inspiration, I chose this palette for the ancillary tasks. I decided to use a black, white and orange colour scheme across my ancillary texts. The black and white is reflective of the feelings of depression and stress explored in the music video. The black and white colour scheme is also prevalent in the music video, during the opening sequence when the artist is in complete darkness and the only light is the white light from the computer. This creates a mysterious atmosphere for all of the products. This is continued in the imagery included in my digipak. All of the images that feature the artist are in black and white, reinforcing the theme of depression and stress, thus strengthening the message of the digipak.
I was inspired by the official Twenty One Pilots website as they also utilise the black, white and orange colour scheme. However, I decided to use the vibrant colour orange, as it is a vibrancy will create a strong colour contrast to the black background, thus making certain text stand out. This colour contrast develops the brand for the artist, creating an association between the artist and the black, white and orange colour scheme. The orange text will also make the artist’s name stand out, thus drawing the audience’s attention to it and the vibrancy of the colour will connote the text’s importance. The orange colour is used to highlight the names of the artist, it is featured on the cover of the digipak and the cover is featured on the website, which helps to promote the sale of the digipak. Audience’s will be able to tell that they are both a part of the same brand as the colour scheme is consistent throughout the design of the website.
Compared to last year, I feel like I have developed quite a lot in my knowledge and application of colours. During my magazine tasks I used colours that blended in with the background so the visibility was affected and the use of colour on my rock magazine looked very childish, however, across the course I have developed my understanding of typography, colours and the connotations behind them. As a result I feel like I have successfully created a brand through the colour scheme of my products whilst making all of the text easily readable and clear.
Costume:
The artist’s signature black hoodie is kept consistent between the music video and the ancillary tasks. The casual, stereotypical black clothing is also mirrored in the digipak and website, thus allowing the audience to identify the star image of the artist. This style enhances his relatability, as it is a typical outfit worn by my target audience in the stereotypical colour, black. So, it will be easier for my target audience to see a personal identity in the protagonist as he is wearing an outfit that is commonly worm by my target audience, so they could see themselves wearing it, strengthening the personal connection between the artist and the audience. So I have applied Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratifications theory. The artist can be seen wearing this in the imagery on the digipak. He wears this signature black hoodie in all of the images that he features in within the digipak, thus reinforcing his star identity, presenting him to be a normal student who likes rock music. Additionally, the front cover is featured on the website, which shows the artist wearing his iconic hoodie, so synergy between the three products is established. There are additional pictures of the artist wearing the hoodie on the website which continues to promote his star image. The black hoodie also connotes that he is impure, alluding to his mental illness (MADD), so the theme of mental illness is reinforced through the imagery in my ancillary texts. So, my protagonist represents my target audience, it would say that the representation is semi-successful as feedback from my target audience has suggests that a large number of them have experienced issues like bullying, anxiety, depression and mental illness, however there is still a small portion of my target audience that responded by saying that they had no experiences with them.
In comparison to last year I would say that I have put a lot more thought into what my target audience wears this year. Last year I went with the stereotypical rock outfits like a leather jacket and black jeans, however not all rock fans would wear clothing like that so I potentially disconnected my magazine from my target audience thus misinterpreting what I thought would appeal to them. However, some improvement suggestions from my target audience mentioned that they didn’t think that I put much thought into the clothing of my protagonist. So, overall I personally believe that I have developed my skills involving mise-en-scene and costume connotations.
So overall, I feel like this has been successful as my target audience were able to relate to my protagonist and find a personal identity in him.
Links between my three products:
I felt that the Digipak and music video had the best combination together. This is because the character that I have used in my video is based on the front cover of my digipack, which allows my audience to be able to make instant references between the two. Additionally, the pictures on the inside of the digipak can also be referenced to the breakdown sequence during my music video, thus strengthening the connections between the two. Moreover, the images of the candles on the back of the digipak also connect to the music video as they were taken during the video shoot and feature in multiple scenes in my music video, adding to the links that connect my video and digipak. Furthermore in my digipack the character that I have used is seen in the same costume as he was in the video, this further shows the combination between two media products.
The sans serif font of the title of the album (Bad behaviour) is the same font used on both the digipak and the website, so the audience will know exactly what album to look for when they see the website homepage. Furthermore, the font for the artist’s logo, Distortion Dos Analogue, is used on the digipak and the website homepage, so the audience will be able to recognize it as the artist’s logo and will be able to realise that the product is a part of the artist’s brand. This is conventional for music promotion, as it ensures there is no confusion for the audience when searching for the artist. Additionally, the website promotes the digipak as it features the cover on the homepage; it is the largest piece of content on my website’s homepage, thus connoting its importance and directing the audience’s attention towards it.
The website of the media project that I have made is the clearest example of all three of my media products showing synergy with each other. As the website homepage was made specifically to cater to my music video and digipack, all of the elements on my website homepage combine with my music video and digipack in some way. When clicking onto my website homepage, the first thing that appears is the digipak’s front cover. This instantly directs the audience’s attention towards the digipak, thus promoting it, whilst also showing that the digipak and the website are linked. This is further demonstrated scrolling down the website homepage where an image from the digipack is seen, the image is also taken from a scene during a music video, thus linking my three products together.
I feel all three of my media products work well together in terms of promoting the song that I have chosen. They all promote it in a different way. For example the music video promotes the song by drawing the audience to watch a the video associated with it, the digipack also increases the exposure of the song as the digipak enables the song able to be bought and listened to. Finally the website utilises both of these functions as it gives people access to the video and it also gives the audience the option to buy the digipack.
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Conclusion:
Overall, I think I have made an effective promotional package for Twenty One Pilots, an Rock/Alternative artist. The products adhere to generic conventions; yet, they still offer a unique look. They are successful as a combination, sharing many similarities and creating a well-rounded package.