Evaluation Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My aim throughout the process of constructing my music video and ancillary text was to keep all three of the text connected to each other, in their purpose but also through their design, target audience and the closeness of the text to realistic media products. When creating my music video and ancillary text I tried to link all 3 products together as much as possible by using the same colours, costume, lighting and font styles. By doing this it shows a high level of continuity as it makes my products look like an actual brand, which will therefore make them effective, help the audiences with identification and to provide a sense of continuity over each of the text . I feel that my main product is the strongest part of my A2 media package as it clearly shows my actress progressing through her career, appearing to search, imagine and dream that she will one day succeed and GLOW as an artist. As the video develops her dreams are shown to be clearly developing and eventually seen as reality,eg she is seen wandering through gardens, fields, and woods all filmed in the dark. Showing the actress succeeding with her dreams is displayed on a fully floodlit professional stage. I feel that my video was effective and represented the genre. My actress was displayed well using effective body language, moving from displaying slightly coy and understated behavior in the beginning to being very professional on the fully flood lit stage in the latter part of the video. I believe that because of this the actress helped the theme flow throughout, using her feelings, wardrobe and settings to great effect which created mise en scene continuity.

 However, my ancillary texts should also be the best part of my promotional package as I have used all the equipement in the previous year before to complete my music magazine, for example photoshop. I feel a lot of effort went into researching, designing and producing my music video, to allow it to look professional. For example, the lightinging, costumes, locations, weather, actress and equipment availabilty.

The main elements I had to consider throughout my 3 products were;

Colour theme

My idea throughout producing my promotional package

Artist name and song title

Music label

My actress

Styling

Mise en Scene

For example my promotional package. Continuity and coherence is shown through the use of costume. The ancillary costumes my actress was in one of the same outfits seen in the video. I did this so that the audience can recognise Anastasia in the ancillary texts from the video as the video would be released before the ancillary texts.

Linking back to my survey and my focus groups, (question 3) my feedback from the audience`s said that the ‘colours worked really well together’ and ‘a strong theme runs throughout’. 

I have created a music video promo, a digipak, and a magazine advert in support of the video release. I attempted to create an effective combination between all three products, by giving them shared elements, for example the font. I used 1001fonts.com and dafont.com which gave me ideas about which font would look the best for my products. I then developed the fonts further, by manipulating them in Photoshop CS6, where I changed the colours to get the best outcomes, for both my digipak and magazine advertisement. As my album name is ‘Glow’, I thought about adding a shadow behind the word ‘glow’, so the audience would think that the word was literally glowing, but I felt this made the front cover of the digipak too over developed, and I felt it didn’t look professional or in keeping. I decided to have the font for the artist name like handwriting as I feel this is the most effective. The font for the album`s name is again hand written as I feel this gives the most emphasis and has the best effect visually. I decided it was very important that the font and colour of the font I chose for the digipak had to be the same for all products. For example:

My location`s I believe, are what piece my three products together the most. For example my filming started in the various outdoor locations at night, which can be very challenging, and then I went on to produce the stage setting, and the lighting at a theatre, with the costumes, made the shot`s more extravagant/ professional to the eye. The costumes that I used especially helped to link all the products, for example, the blue flowing jump suit that the actress wore added impact, as it was that Royal blue that I used throughout the three products, and the flowing nature of the trousers added impact during the breezy filming night. This costume also transferred well to the digipak, as it looked good as a photo, it was bold and showed movement in the picture. The lighting colour on the stage is also seen on the digipak, and magazine advertisement, so matches my colour scheme. All this mise en scene highlights the different parts of my music video, as it allows the audience to witness how the artist progressed throughout her career. I feel that I have successfully made the package as a whole, effective, with the use of conventions, colour scheme, and mise en scene.

The combination of my main product, ancillary text, digipak and promotional poster could lead to cross form synergy, or cross media convergence. This term describes different types of media, coming together to create similar merchandise, for example, all my products have the same colour scheme, costume, and actress, therefore, you can tell as a music package they all fit together and come from the same album "Glow".

I feel that all three of my products would work on the pop market, and also possibly the alternative market, as they are sophisticated, but still show the youth that I am portraying in the music video, that I have represented my target audience. The texts would sell well in my opinion, due to it having a very different approach on the genre, an approach that is uncommon for the pop industry to see.
 My target audience are in social group E, therefore I would price my Digipak at £11.99, which is an affordable price for teens aged 17-25. I as a teen in this age category and demographic, wouldn't probably buy an album for more than this price unless it was a special occasion, or I was in some form of employment because a lot of people in this category are students. Students have little money to live on after paying fees, therefore I feel this price would be appropriate enough for this selected demographic. I think it is crucial that I advertise my package on ITunes; I would put my video and soundtrack on sale for £2.99, again an affordable price for the single choice on what they would like to view. My poster would feature in magazines such as Billboard and Big pop magazines, as this would attract a wider audience, meaning larger artist recognition selling more merchandise products etc.

In Order for the combination of my main product and ancillary texts to be effective, I inevitably adhered to certain media theory. This means my products links to aspects of narrative, audience, representation and genre theory.

Tom O'Sullivan Theory

Tom O'Sullivan's theory is shown correct in my music video as it states that all media text tell some kind of a story. The story behind the song could give the audience courage to be strong and believe that everyone can become successful. As the meaning to the music video shows how the artist has progressed and become successful

Sven Carlsson Theory

This theory suggests that music videos in general, fall into two rough groups: 

• Performance clips- when a music video shows mostly the artist singing or dancing 
• Conceptual clips - when a clip shows something else in the duration, often with artistic ambitions.

Sven Carlsson's theory is shown throughout mt music video as a performance clip. The artist is singing and appears in the whole music video.

Bulmer and Kat'z -Uses and Gratifications Theory
Bulmer and Kat'z 'uses and gratifications theory' state products need to fulfill the audience's needs and expectations, including 'personal identity', which I have portrayed throughout my music video. I have created this through the age of my artist, gender and her individual style. 

Richard Dyer's- Star Theory

Richard Dyer's star theory can be applied in my music video as he believes that "A star is a constructed image represented across a range of media and mediums". This theory can be applied to my music video, as I created my own artist who has her own ideology. For example to be a 'star' and successful the artist must be attractive, have good fashion and a happy personality. Personally, I feel I have transferred this into my music video as I feel I have applied these elements.

Jason Mittell (2001)

Jason Mittell argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media text and operate within industry, audience and cultural practices as well. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society. Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure. Through the link in genre between my ancillary text, the audience will be able to look at my ancillary text and decide whether they will be interested/ like my album and the music video I produced. The theory also states that generic characteristics across all text share similar elements of the below depending on the medium for example, mise en scene, cinematography, editing and lighting