Shianne Brown

Question 2

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

To create a star, the star must be a real person, a public performer of roles, a persona and an image. According to ‘An Introduction to Film Studies’ a star must be approachable and relatable, with these characteristics in mind stars such as music artists have to be a cultural signifier of a particular concentration of qualities. Hannah-Belle, the artist of our main and ancillary productions depicts our current zeitgeist; we are in an age of sexuality of clothing and authenticity of the voice. This is current within our main product as we have her in costume which reveals her legs and arms which have connations of sexuality. Furthermore, through the use of red lipstick there is a representation of gender and femininity. On the other hand, being in a period of authentic voices such as Amy Winehouse, Regina Spektor and Noah and The Whale there is a sense of genesis, in terms of the rawness of their voices, and so the artist that we decided to use represented this perfectly.

SexualityIt is evident that embracing ones sexuality in particular women, is very common, as stated above the revealing representation embraces femininity and seduction.

Our music video ‘Mexico’ was a representation of freedom and euphoria throughout, this was a method of signifying a particular attitude and ideology often used in indie folk music, which is becoming increasingly popular within mainstream music. It is as though meaning is becoming attached to the artist through her personality, consequently the audience becomes aware of the feelings that are represented in this particular genre and then subtly gains expectations of that particular feeling to other music videos in that genre. The video is a performance and allows the audience to join in with her. Moreover, my ancillary texts were intertwined with the main product as I had to follow the same conventions of that genre in order to make it believable. I decided to opt for a simplistic approach which emphasised on the authenticity of the genre and how calm it was. By having a relaxed and natural concept epitomises the sound of the album.

The social demographics for our media production is within the D strand which places emphasis on teenagers and students, as the particular style is what interests

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this type of audience more than any other strand. For instance, our music video and ancillary texts would not be of interest to those in a higher strand such as A (Upper Class.) In order to produce a successful artist there must be a target audience, which will essentially buy the products hence make a star. And so, it is important that you

market the artist effectively, in terms of their portrayal in music videos and products which the audience are pleased with. You have to meet with the commands of the consumer otherwise your start, and profit will be jeopardised. With a common theme throughout both main and ancillary products, it helps the target audience to have a foundation of beliefs for the artist, i.e. the audience has expectations of the artist and therefore expects the CD and magazine advertisement to demonstrate that of the music video. This was an interesting genre as it was hybrid of folk and indie which allowed me to explore these characteristics and incorporate both in order to gain the interest of both folk and indie listeners.

Furthermore, within my ancillary texts, particularly the CD designs, I used a computerised Polaroid tool which highlighted the voyeurism of the artist. Having the knowledge that Polaroid’s are a dying breed of photography, I wanted to use this basic design to encourage our target audience to realise the beauty of the past. In addition, the pictures used were very mellow and not busy which again highlights the genre. I wanted to use a

significant amount of pictures of Hannah-Belle to gain recognisability and association for the audience, this signifies a convention of the music industry as producers often focus a lot of the appearance and costume as it creates a persona which in essence creates a star. In addition, with the variety of pictures I included in my ancillary texts builds an attachment with the audience and we become accustomed with the artist. Within my ancillary task, I used quite a lot of vintage backgrounds to give an authentic and rustic tone to the CD cover in particular. As the target audience are predominantly women, I felt that it would be a strategic move to use this theme to entice the audiences and the consumer. In addition, with our music video, there are heavy influences of the vintage aspect with the scenes on the doorstep and many of the costumes, with the last dress very ancient looking.

Comparatively, in producing both my main product and ancillary texts we used colour correction which altered the contrast and brightness. This gave it a surreal component which provides escapism for the viewer; consequently the viewer gains an affinity with the artist and so the viewer finds this particular artist becoming. Overall, with the combination of both the main product and ancillary texts, I was able to create a

Students who tend to attend music festivals, similar to Glastonbury are the audience which we want to attract.

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particular star image and persona for the artist. It depicted the up and coming indie/ folk scene which indicates the success of underground artists which are deemed to have a niche market, however, I feel as though marketing Hannah Belle in this way allows mainstream audiences to relate and listen to the artist.

Whilst devising my album cover, I used adobe fireworks which works as Photoshop and allowed me to create an image which coincides with the music video. This ancillary text also provides a concept of nature and simplicity, with the use of the natural brownish tone. I additionally used the contrast and saturation level on the artist which blended with the background, hence related with our main task the concept being very minimalistic.

Moreover, my magazine cover was a chance for me to market the artist strategically. I used a white background as I did not want it to be too busy, I wanted to introduce a calm and naturalistic approach to my poster, it is hopefully in your face but not too in your face, obviously the outcome is to get consumers intrigued with the artist and eventually buying the album. The poster also markets our music video as it emphasises on nature with the rose, and the picture is from a shot, which I really liked from our filming footage, and so I feel as though it connects with the main task successfully.