HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION

OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND

ANCILLARY TASKS?

My three projects had one aim which is to promote a band through 3 products. Those being a music video, digipak and magazine advert. I personally believe that they are all have unity and are suitable for their purpose, with the music video being approximately three minutes long and accompanies the track ‘Be Somebody’ and the digipak as it is has four panes and contains the following information;-Album name-Band name-Song list-Record label-Barcode-Copyright information-Band websiteThe magazine advert serves it original aim also which was to advertise the album ‘Be Somebody’, doing this by containing the release date and the places you can buy the album e.g. iTunes and Amazon.

If the band was actually real, all of the three products would be produced by the record label, for example Domino. They would be created by the marketing team and they would use similar source material to give a uniform and coherent identity to the products so it would establish the style of the band. We, as a group, have tried to achieve this by making the products similar through the gloomy, low lit shots in the music video and images in the digipak and advert. We have also created an enigma style to the band by not including them in the music video (only the singers mouth) and having back shots of them on the magazine advert.

Aim

Between my three products I have used various codes of visual language, those being…

Facial expression. We kept the facial expressions of the actors very serious throughout the first part of the music video as they are trying to achieve something and be somebody. The actors begin to smile at the end of the music video as they have achieved their goal.

Body language. The body language in the music video is fairly relaxed and calm apart from when the dancer falls and she is in pain. The body language in the advert is also very relaxed, with the band leaning on trees etc.

Camera angles. Throughout the music video we have used various different camera angles to show power and vulnerability, for example when the dancer falls, the camera angle is high showing vulnerability and when the dancer gets back up and starts again, the camera angle is high to show power and prosper.

I have also effectively used mise en scene in the combination of the music video, digipak and magazine advert.

Objects/props/iconography. In the music video there aren’t many objects to take representation from however in the digipak and magazine advert the old, worn out converse connote that the band aren’t very rich and are relatable to the majority of young adults today.

Set/location. We spent a fair amount of time deciding the locations we were going to film at as our characters are working class, so we needed to represent this through the location and I believed we achieved this. In the music video there are recognisable and relatable settings like a house and office etc. In the digipak and magazine advert the wood and outdoorsy images add to the enigma style of the band.

Clothing. The characters in the music video have everyday affordable clothes on which represents that they are working class.

Colour. We have used a few bright colours in our three products despite belonging to the alternative rock genre. In the music video we used a grainy overlay effect but this only darkened the colour slightly. The digipak has the most colour out of the three with the CD containing bold oranges and blues and the magazine advert not really containing much colour and being the one representing the genre most.

Lighting. Across all three products the lighting is fairly gloomy and not very bright.

Media Language

The way the band is represented in the three products, it can influence what fan base they have. target audience etc.

Alternative rock doesn’t focus on image instead the focus is more on the music, so I incorporated this into my three products. In the music video the band is not shown, only the lead signers mouth same for the digipak. For the magazine advert the band are featured but their faces and therefore image is not shown, this keeps in tie with the enigma feel. By doing this though the band are not fulfilling the audiences personal identification (Uses and Gratification Theory), but keeps them intrigued to find out what the band look like, similar to Daft Punk but not as close to that level.

In the music video, I have represented the characters positively as they are teenage female working class (dominant social group) who are aiming to succeed and make something of themselves.

Overall, we have been effective with our three products as we have presented a unified representation through the connotations we have constructed through the media language.

Representation/ Image