Evaluation part 3

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

Effectiveness The feedback received from an audience who viewed all three of my ancillary products suggested that Sam and I successfully made all three very clearly related and similar. The opinions we received generically all had the same structure, saying “there is a strong sense of branding” and that our products combined together are “very effective and professional”. The feedback reinforces that all of our planning of representations we were trying to portray through mise-en-scene, costume and editing style worked well and succeeded.

Effectiveness Our ancillary are similar in the aspect of photography, we decided to use the "graffiti wall" as one of the main links between the video, magazine advert and digipak. We also used a few still frames from the video and incorporated them into the digipak, such as the 'forest still frame'.

Along with the imagery, the typography used between the digipak and magazine advert also shows a clear link between the two products creating a synergy and working promote each other. Initially we started with four different fonts but changed this in order to show some similitude. We decided to have a clear involvement of art work from the 'graffiti wall'. On the digipak, there is a 'bonus footage' panel which involves a close up of the intricate pattern on the wall; the magazine advert has a glimpse of graffiti artwork along with pink metal bars in the background which have been used in the video

The Products

Influences

Influences Our influence came from people like Ed Sheeran, James Morrison and Rizzle Kicks. The styling of their pictures have always been either close ups or mid shots. We used this technique of close ups and focusing on the artists body to show a clear presentation of Sam and his dress sense. Ed Sheeran only appears momentarily in his music videos, mixing with the narrative for only a few seconds, although we have a lot of artist performance we took inspiration from Ed Sheeran’s music video and added Sam to the Narrative for a brief moment to mix the two components together. We kept the narrative distant from the magazine advert and digipak, as this would have been confusing and following Ed Sheeran’s example we focused on mid shots, long shots and close ups of the artist and art work.

House style- Typography, Pictures and Colours

The typography is ‘art brush’ which is consistent between both ancillary products taken from Dafont.com- In keeping the typography the same we show a clear connection between the two products, tying in with the theme of a ‘balloon ride fantasy’ we successfully make an effective combination.

Continued… We decided to keep the locations the same with in all of our products, this was to give a clear “London” representation and show the audience where they have been taken and what it is like there. Even in darker areas like the metal door, the graffiti wall and colour patterns brighten the imagery and still give a gritty yet stylish effect.

Keeping the location the same meant keeping the colour scheme as well, keeping yellows, blues, and greends. The blues were focused on in Sam’s costume and in the music video, which are then represented in the digipak and magazine advert with the clothes we had chosen for him to wear. In doing so we portray Sam as bright and calm, as the video is about heart break his coolness denotes rationality.

Representation of Artist

Sam is represented as a cool, calm and composed. The colours we used for him throughout the music video, digipak and magazine advert were mainly blues and greens. With the stylization of the pictures, background and graffiti we wanted to connote a young adult growing up in an urban culture, where he doesn’t completely “fit in”. The location in front of the metal door in New Cross had graffiti which denoted an urban feel and also posters which seemed very indie rock, giving a healthy mix of both and representing how you can embrace your style regardless of which area you are from.

Sam plays a simple role in the music video but the imagery has a “powerful impact” in the ancillary products. The bold statement of him standing in the poster against the graffiti. The several different sides to him on the digipak. There is a very frantic yet calm impression given by the digipak as the patterns make it visually frenzy, but then the blues and muted colours of the forest give balance, showing the contrast of two different emotions.

Mode of Address and Themes The mode of address we chose to go for was an ironic theme, one of love and loss. The irony is how typically a music video regarding a proposal ends either happily, for example ‘Hot and Cold’ by Katy Perry is based around marriage and ends with a ‘perfect marriage’. Where as we have done the opposite and presented a tongue in cheek moment when the female antagonist rejects the male protagonist. In regards to love, we show both sides, when they were in love and when they fall out of love. The themes of the narrative aren’t portrayed with in the magazine advert and digipak as this would have been too displeasing, instead we have a focus on Sam, much like James Morrison, his music videos base around love and loss, most of his album covers have a central focus on his facial expression.

Successful? Effective?

According to the audience research we have done, we have found that the relation between the video and two ancillary products is clear, along with how the link between all three products is evident due to mise-en-scene, location, costume and colour grading. Overall the three products are both effective individually and together.