Evaluation 2

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

For my media coursework , along with a music video , I had to produce a digi pack and a poster advertising the digi pack. In these I wanted to produce a product which is consistent in communicating the genre and characteristics/personality of the band with the audience. But also , produce a product which is unique and links in with the music video.

For the digi pack I wanted to express the image and genre of the band through the photographs. I didn’t want the photos to look and come across like a pop band such as One Direction and this is a element in which I didn’t want to come across in our music video. Together, we wanted to drill into the audience minds that we are a Indie Rock band through our appearance but with the Digi Pack , I  also wanted to express the genre through images that relate to our lifestyle  through using image of alcohol and cigarette which indicates our genre too. The font style I chose was from a website called ‘Da Font’ under the name ‘Piston Pressure’. This font was chosen due to the research I carried out on similar bands such as Artic Monkeys. Bands go for a bold basic font, but unique from different bands. This font is used for out band logo and used the same font for the posters and digi pack so there is a strong link between both. In addition, the more the public see the font , they will start to establish the font with the band , gaining a strong recognition with the public towards the band. I chose the colour black to mostly all the fonts , as black is a colour that stand out most and is a colour that similar bands use. They don’t go for nothing fancy or pop. Indie bands use dull/dark colours , so I carried this over to my digi pack and poster. In addition , I used a dark red on the poster for ‘out right now’ this emphasize and makes the statement stand out from the poster to audience. In addition , the colour red Is a theme and link through both ancillary texts. I choose to emphasize on the red as the colour red is associated with indie bands , but it has a strong meaning behind the colour. Red is assertive, daring, determined, energetic, powerful, enthusiastic, impulsive, exciting, and aggressive. Red represents physical energy, lust, passion, and desire. It symbolizes action, confidence, and courage. The colour red is linked to the most primitive physical, emotional, and financial needs of survival and self-preservation. These words associate with the bands lifestyle and image and symbolizes their music also. Therefore , red was the perfect choice , it also bring life to the black and white edit , which is a theme running throughout my music video , digi pack and poster. A message in which the band are trying to bring  life through their musical talent.

In my digi pack , I wanted to ensure they I wasn’t a pop genre band and didn’t want to many images of the band like one direction. I didn’t want the bands photos to look as if they was taken in a photoshoot. I wanted photos of the band naturally, such as ‘The Kooks’ in their albums and many others such as oasis and The Liberteens. This photo type are used in other album and digi packs , I wanted to ensure I use these for my digi pack.

For my front cover I choose to use a collection of photos than just one photo. That’s because I wanted to be unique and different. This is the bands first digi pack/ album , so I wanted to express the success of the band through images of them out together enjoying themselves. This gives a insight into the personality and the type of band we are. In addition , close ups of the band members allows the audience to see the members individually. This is linked in with the music video , as we use close up there to show the appearance of all the band members so the audience have an idea of all the band members.

My back over has a image of the band looking out into London, showing a London land mark of tower bridge . This image is a strong image , showing the location of where the band are from , giving a connection of the audience around where they came from , but alos show them looking out chasing their dream and that this is only the beginning . Not seeing their faces represent that they are not trying to sell their image but selling their music and skilled talents.

For my inside panel , I linked in the colour scheme again of black and white which goes along with the music video. This link is used in music videos such as Kasabian club foot  a common theme indie rock music videos , and a theme in digi packs such as artic monkeys, this associates with our target audience as these dark / dull targets appeal to male audience more , but the darkness and our appearance appeals to more a adult target group such as 16 – 25 , such as students. In addition , for my inside panels I wanted to use images that associate the band lifestyle portrayed negatively , therefor I used images such as alcohol , smoking  that give this rebellious / negative lifestyle. This lifestyle is represented slightly with the narrative of the music video in how dark it can be seen with the fight scene with all the blood. As our band , we have a rebellious, aggressive or just dark lifestyle and we wanted to show this. In addition , I brought out the colours of the red to make the image more engaging and again show that symbolise theme of the colour red throughout. In addition , to make the image more engaging , I ensued that the cigarette was lit so I can capture the smoke , this created a great edge to the photo and brings life to the image. But in addition , on my other inside panel , I used a image of the guitarist. This is a marketing tool as this panel will change into a different band member with every one that is released. This keeps the fans engage and exciting and makes our digi pakc feel more special and collectable. This technique is used in other bands such as Nirvana and Kiaser Chiefs .

For my CD panels , I wanted again to be unique and different. Being unique is a strong representation , as we want to be different. I decided to take this idea and turn the CD into two products but are associated to the band. I chose to use a ash tray and beer Bootle top. Again , I choose these objects as they can be easily turn t into the shape of the CD as both round. But also , as they reflect the band image and have that connection. To make it more engaging and fun and unique , I ensued that the background linked in with the CD/DVD. So as you take the CD up behind on the table is Rogues Gallery etched in , and behind the Bottle Top is a bottle with the head of the beer frothing over the side. This is unique and links with our target audience as this is associated with the youth . The DVD is a marketing selling point including footage of the band , engaging the audience to collect it and give the audience that behind the scenes experience with the band.

The advert for my digi pack still has a link. Looking into other adverts they do this through mainly having their album cover as their poster. I decided not o to do this and put the image in the corner of the album cover so everyone can see what it looks like for selling purpose. But I decided to use an image of the band again looking out to show the success of the band but also relates to the digi pack as all the image I used where taken in a day out with the band. The main point of the poster is market our band to the public and the type of image we are portraying through our outfits, you can tell we our indie band. The social networking and website links engages the audience to find out more about the band to market our artist in different media social networking due to our target audience being a young age , social networking is what they always use. The black and white image effect links into the digi pack and video creating a recognition for the audience.  I am pleased with my digipak and advert as I think they demonstrate both the conventions of these products, whilst portraying my artist suitably.

Overall , my digi pack has a link between and strongly shows the genre and the characteristics of the genre through the appearance of the band in both. You can clearly see it’s a band and their target audience is for more adults over 18 through the advertisement of alcohol and cigarette. The colour scheme in both, and the type of band we are portrays the rebellious/dark lifestyle the band have and empathize that the band main selling point is not their image , its their skill in their music.