Question 2 - Miss Georgiou

Media evaluation question

Question 2 – how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

(The written answer for my question)

The main product refers to our music video for the song ‘Salvation’ by Gabrielle Aplin and the ancillary texts refer to our magazine advert and digipak which were created after researching and planning our chosen artist and music genre in order to establish a better understanding of their individual styles and the conventions of the genre, for example, we analysed an existing advert for Gabrielle Aplin and her debut album ‘English rain’ which included a long shot image of her standing in a field which we identified as being unconventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists often produce music that is personal and relates directly to their lives, but a long shot image creates a sense of mystery about her, which she was in the sense that she was new to the music industry, therefore not many people will have known who she was or what she looked like, however, this may have enticed them into wanting to buy her album in order to find out more about her.

In my advanced portfolio I was required to research and analyse the indie genre, for example, successful artists and music videos from within the genre in order to identify the various elements that are conventional to them all, for instance, indie artists are often represented as being more realistic and relatable through the use of affordable clothing and easily accessible locations. Indie is not the most popular genre of music due to the fact that it does not fit into the mainstream, therefore indie artists will not make a huge amount of money that can be spent on hiring out of studios to film their music videos in or for buying designer goods such as branded clothing. In my 3 products (the music video, digipak and magazine advert) I feel as though I have created an artist whom the audience will be able to relate to especially where she can be seen wearing affordable clothing such as a grey dress and black leggings which suggests that she is not trying to flaunt the money that she does have.
I was inspired by Ed Sheeran’s magazine advert for his album ‘+’ to use a close up image of my artist for the cover of my own magazine advert due to the fact that it gave the advert more of a personal feel because the artist is completely exposed to the audience in the sense that she has nowhere to hide due to the fact that the audience can see exactly what she looks like and how she is feeling because of her facial expressions. This is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore they are exposed in the sense that the lyrics of their songs will relate directly to their life and will be sharing personal information about the artist with the audience. This will appeal to the audience due to the fact that they will feel as though the artist trusts them with this information and views them more as a friend, rather than just one of the hundred people sitting behind the screen watching the music video. When creating my own individual magazine advert, I decided to use a close up image of her face as this would allow me to introduce my artist by ensuring that she is the first thing that the audience can see which was important to do due to the fact that she is new to the music industry, therefore she will need to establish an audience who is going to buy into her music and who she will be able to target her future music at. She will be able to gain a better understanding of what this audience find appealing in a music video which will help her to become more successful as she will be able to direct her music at this audience who will enjoy her music videos more as she will have included aspects that the audience want to see in them.
In my individual digipak I decided to use a long shot image of my artist walking through a cornfield due to the fact that the use of an easily accessible location such as the park is conventional to the indie genre because these types of places are cheaper to film in which is beneficial to indie artists who do not make a lot of money, therefore they will be unable to spend a load of money hiring out a studio to film in. Moreover, the audience themselves may have been to these places themselves, therefore they will find it easier to relate to the video. I was inspired to use this type of location after analysing Gabrielle Aplin’s digipak for her debut album ‘English rain’ because the use of a long shot image helped to create a sense of mystery about her due to the fact that, similar to the artist who I was promoting, she was new to the music industry, therefore she was a mystery in the sense that not many people will have know who she was. This may have encouraged the audience to buy her album in order to find out more about her due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore the lyrics of their songs will relate directly to their own lives
There were various conventions that I decided to use in my ancillary text in order to make my products realistic to and recognisable within the indie genre such as the use of a close up and handwritten fonts to give the products more of an emotional and personal feel. The artist (Gabrielle Aplin) that I decided to create a music video for had her own individual style which consisted of being quite casual and natural, therefore I wanted this style to be evident in my own music video and ancillary texts which I feel as though I achieved through the use of affordable clothing such as leggings and a plain, grey dress and the visuals of everyday locations such as the park and the location of a house which is a place that everybody will know and be able to relate to. Moreover, because Aplin already had an established audience, I wanted them to be able to see my products and associate them with her. This is due to the fact that I felt as though more people would wanted to buy the product or be interested to see my own interpretation of one of her songs which therefore has the potential to increase the exposure of my music video as they may recommend watching it to their friends whom are also interested in Gabrielle Aplin.
A convention that can be seen in my magazine advert was the use of handwritten fonts such as DK Lemon and Sunshine for the written information including the artist name and the list of song names included on the album. This is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore the songs will be more personal to them. Furthermore, the handwritten font will make the audience feel as though the artist has taken the time to write the information themselves similar to the way they write their own music, therefore the audience will believe that the artist is completely committed to their music and that they produce their music in order to please their fans. The audience are arguably one of the most important aspects of the music industry due to the fact that without them an artist would have no one to buy their music, thus making it impossible for them to be successful. Another convention that can be seen in my magazine advert is the representation of my artist being realistic and relatable which was achieved through the use of affordable clothing such as a grey dress and black leggings due to the fact that the indie genre does not fit into the mainstream, therefore indie artists will not make a huge amount of money and do not tend to care too much about keeping up with current fashion trends because they are too focused on their music which is arguably why they are often perceived as always being on the road. Furthermore, in the image the audience can see that the artist is sitting in front of a brick wall which implies that she is in an isolated location which is also conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists do not make a huge amount of money because the genre does not fit into the mainstream and will therefore only appeal to a select group of people, therefore they cannot afford to hire out high quality studios or exotic locations, however, this arguably portrays them as being more relatable for the audience who are likely to have been to these places themselves because of how common they are.
The first convention that I have used on my digipak is the use of the colours black and white for the side profile image of the artist. The use of the colours black and white is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that it is often perceived as being old fashioned and as not fitting into the mainstream which is arguably why indie is not the most popular genre of music. The use of these colours will help me to show the audience the relationship between my digipak and my music video during which we included a flashback at the beginning of which connotes the idea of going back in time, which we felt conformed to the indie genre which is often perceived as being old fashioned and would help us to make the video appear as though we are showing the audience a memory from the artist which is conventional to the genre due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences which therefore allow the audience to get to know more about them. We also felt the flashback would make our video more interesting to watch due to the fact that it shows the audience two different stories joining together which would help us to hook the audience and keep them curious when wanting to know the relevance of the elderly character in regards to the narrative and other characters. The flashback was important to our music video due to the fact that it helped us to develop our narrative by explaining to the audience who the elderly lady seen at the beginning of the video is by going back in time and showing her journey to the present day. Another convention that I have used on my digipak is a close up image of the artist which can be seen on the front cover. This will be the first thing that the audience see when they look at the digipak, therefore they will immediately be introduced to her as being the artist and will therefore be more likely to recognise her face if they see her in other aspects of the media. Moreover, the image of her face is positioned directly below her name therefore the audience will have no doubt about who she is which implies successful branding and advertising due to the fact that after seeing the digipak the audience will be able to associate the name of the artist with her face. The use of a close up image of her face is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore the lyrics on the song will be more personal to the artist as they will relate directly to their life and will tell the audience things about them that they may not already know.
Overall, I feel as though all of my 3 media products promote my artist effectively to my target audience, for example, the use of close up's in all 3 products, especially at the beginning of the music video and for the front covers of my ancillary texts, the audience are able to see clearly what my artist looks like and how she is feeling. This was important for me to do due to the fact that my artist was new to the music industry, therefore not many people will have known who she was, however, after seeing these close up's they will be more likely to be able to recognise her in other aspects of the media, thus constantly increasing her exposure. The use of a close up is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore the lyrics of their songs will be personal to them in the sense that they will relate directly to their lives, similar to the way a close up is considered personal due to the fact that the artist is completely visible to the audience. Another way in which I have promoted my artist effectively is her portrayal as being more relatable and realistic through the use of affordable clothing such as a baggy grey jumper which she can be seen wearing in the image on the cover of my magazine advert and everyday locations such as the park as these are places that the audience may visit on a regular basis. This may appeal to the audience more because they will often associate people within the music industry as being wealthy and as living expensive lifestyles, however, they themselves will often work average paying jobs and basic lifestyles.