HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY

TEXTS?

In order to create my ancillary task successfully, I needed to analyse and evaluate existing digipaks and magazine adverts to ensure mine contains the correct codes and conventions. The artists I researched were all rather different but they all consisted of the same things. For example, the Album covers all had a clear and bold album title, a main image, the artists name & the parental advisory label, which isn't always necessary.

Initially, the reason I chose the song 3:16am by Jhene Aiko is because it has such a sweet melody to it but lyrical content contradicts this. Although Jhene comes off as a very soulful and timid person, I wanted my ancillary tasks to represent 3:16am in particular. Since the video themes were insomnia and depression, I wanted my main image to be distorted in someway to represent the idea of her being mentally unstable.

Before trying out different techniques I could use to manipulate and distort my image I first had to select one. I chose this image because I like the way she is directly into the camera and her other eye is hidden. It gives the image a slightly sensitive feel and also makes it more interesting than just a straightforward portrait. Although I like this image, I realised that a number of adjustments had to be made to it.

This the image after I edited it and I did 4 different things to it:

1) Whitened background & got rid of shadow - The reason I did this was because the grey background look very dull and moody. The bright white background allows the subject to stand out a lot more. Also, having a shadow is seen as very unprofessional when producing high key images.

2) Adjusted the contrast - I lightened the picture as well because I felt there was not enough light in it. This is because I did not set up my studio lights correctly.

3) Fixed subjects hair - In the previous picture, you can see that there were stray pieces of hair sticking up and it did not look like a front cover image. Therefore I got rid of the hairs and reshaped some parts of the hairstyle so it looked more professional and neat.

4) Removed blemishes - Lastly, I used the spot healing tool to remove all blemishes from the face. This was because of the male gaze and also because sexuality is key in the R&B genre.

TRIAL & ERROR:This was one of my first drafts when creating my album cover however; it is what I expected it to be. You wouldn’t tend to see an image like this from an R&B artist so therefore I decided not to deform my subject. However, I did prefer the image in black and white so I decided this is what I would use.

After fiddling around with Photoshop for an hour or two, this is what I have produced as my final album cover. We can see that I have gone with a simple, sophisticated font reason being it prevents distractions from the overall image and also so it appears more professional. The use of black and white is linked to my music video because the parts of the video where she is going mad are shot in black and white. Also in terms of camera angle, there is strong link between the album cover and music video because a number of the shots in the music video are neutral face forward camera shots similar to the image used here. Lastly, although you can barely tell, in the image used on the album cover, the subject is only wearing a bralet. This is a very revealing clothing piece, which therefore reinforces the strong sexuality portrayed within the music video.

CONCLUSIONOverall, I feel that I have successfully followed the codes and conventions of a digipak and magazine advert in my final pieces. Although there could have been a stronger link between the two, I think you can tell what my chosen genre was. Also, the music video, digipak and magazine advert all reinforce the idea that the music video is all about her!