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

We wanted to create a music video that appealed to a niche target audience, this is because the music video that we created is part of the artists debut album and therefore we wanted to appeal to a niche target audience to begin with and then broaden our horizons. Along with the music video we also created the digipak for our artists album and a magazine advert to advertise these products. These products are displayed in the below images.

I think that as a complete product that these three elements of our music video, the digipak and the poster worked very well together. One of the reasons that I think this is because whilst creating the digipak and the magazine advert I tried to ensure that they were a reflection of the music video that we have created. As a result of this I made sure that we continued with the dark tone of the video by using a dark colour scheme in the other products.

As you can see from the images above of two of the ancillary texts, I think that they work very well together. This is because they both have the same main image and I have tried to use a similar background on the magazine advert as I have on the digipak cover. Even though these two products look quite similar I think that it is very important as it makes the whole product come together as a whole. As well as this, after researching into professional artists and real media products I found that they very often use the same image throughout their work. It was important that we carried out this research as we wanted our work to be a reflection of the music industry.

Additionally to this, using the same image and font throughout our work meant that our artist would very quickly establish her own image. This is important when working in the music industry as it means that the artists target audience will very quickly be able to recognise the artist's style of work.

I think one of the main things that makes all of the products work together is the use of the dark colour scheme. The use of the grey and black colouring on the ancillary texts meant that it is reflective of the music video that we have created. This is because the narrative of the video is about the emotions you experience after breaking up with a partner, therefore it is important that we chose colours to match this dark mood.

One of the elements that I think is successful about the digipak that we created is the use of font and the backing on the font, this is displayed in the image above. I think that it is effective that we chose to add a backing to our font, this is because it gives our digipak its own unique element as very often with professional products they will not use a backing on the text. Moreover because the backing is not a complete block of colour, it is once again reflective of our music video and the range of emotions that the artist is currently feeling.

However, one of the weaknesses of this product is the background. Although we chose to use quite a plain background because we didn't want it to draw away the attention from the list of tracks and after researching into professional products they often feature a plain background on the backing. We found from our audience research that some people would've preferred an image on the back, this is because the list of tracks is displayed on the far left hand side and as a result of this it means that the right side of the back cover looks very plain. Although, I personally think that if we added an image to our back cover, it might have begun to look quite cluttered and this was not the overall image that we wanted.

Following on from this, if we were to recreate our digipak I would change the costume that our artist is wearing. At the time that we took the images we were not planning on putting a backing on the front. However as we began to edit the image and put the work together, it very quickly became apparent that the backing on the front was very similar to the artists jumper. Although I think that the use of similar patterns ties all of the work together, it may also have weaknesses of being difficult for some of our target audience members to read. Therefore I would change the artists outfit so that there is minimal confusion.

One of the elements that I think is successful about our magazine advert is that it is representative of our digipak. As I have previously mentioned, we chose to use the same image. I think that this is a successful marketing technique as it ensures that our artist and the product become easily recognisable.

Another element of our magazine advert that I think is effective is the overall layout and the information that we chose to include. I think that we have included the right amount of information so that our target audience know all of the crucial information, along with marketing techniques such as including some of the songs that are included on the album. But I also think that the poster is quite minimal so it does not contain too much information and starts to draw away information from the important details. 

One of the elements that we had to overcome when creating our magazine advert is that we wanted to use the same main image that was used on the front of our digipak. However the image used on our digipak is of a square shape and we wanted the image to cover the whole of the advertisement so that it stood out on the page. However as I began to create the magazine advert it very quickly became apparent that the image would not stretch to the size that we wanted it to because it began to look un-proportional. We resolved this issue by looking at professional magazine adverts and I found that some artists lay the magazine advert out as if the CD is present. Therefore we decided to keep the image the same shape and size as the one on the digipak and place the information that is needed below.  I think that the use of this layout is effective and it means that our image is able to keep its professional quality. 

I think that one of the weaknesses of this product is that some of the information is not easy to read because of the patterned background that we decided to use. For example the release date of the album is not easily visible. This could be an issue for some of our target audience. However the use of a white font throughout the rest of the advert is effect because it is contrasting against the dark background. In order to overcome this problem, if we was to recreate the advert we could either change the backing of the advert and place the patterned element where there is no writing, or we could change the colouring of the font.

Following on from this there are also positive elements and weaknesses of our main product, which is the music video that we created.  As I will explain below.

Lip syncing

When looking at our main product I think that the successful elements include the lip syncing aspect. It was very important that we included lip syncing within our work to display a variety of skill. The overall feedback that we received from our target audience was that the lip syncing of the video is very accurate and therefore adds to the professional element of our video. If we were to recreate the music video we would perhaps add more lip syncing elements to the close up shots of our artist to display our skills even further. However one of the problems that we encountered whilst shooting our music video is that the song we decided to recreate is of a very fast pace at times within the song and our artist found it quite difficult to follow the lip syncing aspect.  In order to over come this problem, we made sure that we included lip syncing aspects that our artist was comfortable with following to ensure we had the most professional finish possible.

Example of a location

Another element of our main product that I think was successful was our use of a variety of locations. We thought that it was very important whilst creating our music video that we used a range of different settings to ensure that our target audience did not become bored whilst watching the product. I think that the overall look that was created through using several locations was very effective and a change in scenery meant that our target audience were constantly being introduced to something new. Along with this, we also made sure that in each of our locations our artist was wearing a different costume. Once again I think that this is a successful element within our main product as it meant that our artist could establish her own image very quickly and our target audience might become inspired by the different outfits.

Visual effect

Following on from this, I think that another successful element within our music video is the use of a variety of effects. Whilst creating our product we tried to be very experimental with final cut pro and use as much of the facility that was available to us. One of the effects that was most successful within our product is the use of the blur effect, this meant that the visual image created made our artist look like she was stepping out of her own body. This therefore adds to the "disturbed" narrative that we were trying to create.

Mid shot 

In contrast to this, I think that one of the weaknesses of our main product is that we did not use a variety of camera movement.  The camerawork throughout our product is very still, this is because we wanted to ensure that we created a sturdy shot to edit the lip syncing in. However it is likely that in professional music videos they will use a variety of camera movements. As well as this, there are also a lot of mid shots throughout our video. We chose to use mid shots because we wanted to establish our artists image so that our target audience could become familiar with her and her style. However, if we were to recreate this product, as a group we decided that we would try to add a greater variety of shots to our work in order to ensure that our target audience did not become disengaged.

green screen element 

Next, one of the difficulties that we overcome whilst creating our work was the use of the green screen element. As a group none of us had used the green screen element before and therefore it was a completely new skill that we had to learn. First of all it was quite difficult trying to figure out how to edit the green screen on final cut pro. Although as a group we overcome this problem together and as a result of this I think that the overall look of the green screen is very effective and adds a unique element to our work, setting us apart from others.

Another problem that we encountered when we first began to film our main product, is that we had to change the person who was going to be our artist. This meant that at the beginning of the production process we lost some time. However I think that it was good that we decided to make this decision early on in the process as it meant we had enough time to deal with this issue.

Opening title 

Overall I think that all three of the elements that we have created work very well together. I think that the digipak and the magazine advert are reflective of the video that we have created. As I have previously mentioned, I think that it is effective that we used a similar colour scheme throughout our work as the use of dark colours reflect the element of mystery within our video. As well as this, the same backing has been placed on all three of the products. For example the patterned is featured at the beginning of the video with the title of the video and then it is then placed on the background of both the digipak and the magazine advert. This element helps to link all three of the products together. However if we were to recreate these products I would try and add the same font that is used on the ancillary texts to the beginning of our video. This is so that the font would become iconic to our artist. Furthermore, I also think that it is effective that we used the same image throughout our work as it means that our artist is easily recognisable.