Q2. How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product And Ancillary Text?

Q2 from s0016541

Colour Scheme:

I created a colour scheme for my promotional package, which was black, white and a light grey. These colours where more prominent on my ancillary texts. Black connotes to strength, power and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant and prestigious colour (black tie, Mercedes). white is associated with light, goodness and innocence. It is considered to be the colour of perfection. Grey is a cool, neutral, and balanced colour. The colour grey is a timeless and practical colour. the light grey colour i am using connotes to a feminine nature. I think these colours go together well and add sophistication and class to my product. These colours used on my ancillary texts make my artist appear to be already established and will be taken seriously. I feel like the seriousness and simplicity of these colours add to the ideology of my artist and the seriousness of the topic of sexuality that is tackled in my music video.

Fonts:

I wanted the main fonts on my ancillary texts to be cohesive with my product so  I used the font Dubriel, which acted as the main font for my ancillary text and featured on my music video. The same font is also used for the mast head of the high end fashion magazine 'Vogue', therefore reinforcing the elegant and prestigious ideology of my artist. I also used the font Steelfish for the tracklist on the back cover of my digipak, this allowed me to use a variation of fonts and I feel it compliments nicely to my main font. Furthermore, I believe that these fonts reflected the indie/pop genre well due to their sleek, elegant and stylish nature. The reason I used Dubriel as the main font across my products because they it reinforced the ideology I wanted for my artist and like the aesthetic it gave my products. I used the same artist as my AS foundation portfolio and used the same font for her on the front cover of my music magazine. Thus reinforcing her as a brand, which many artists are today, which is typical in the pop genre.

Imagery (cinematography, editing, etc):

I used conventional cinematography in my products. For example, I used a variety of shot types in my music video, such as mid shots, long shots, over the shoulder shots, close ups, extreme close ups. The variety of my shot types can be seen when my main actor is looking through the scrapbook. Due to my music video being extremely narrative based, I felt that taking new images for my ancillary texts would be more relevant to the pop genre as screen shots of my video, in my opinion, wouldn't look good on how I wanted my ancillary texts to look. In relation to editing techniques, I kept it simplistic to add to the normality of a same sex relationship. The main editing transitions I used was the cross dissolve and fade, as I felt it was the most appropriate to use and gave my video a smooth transition between present day to flash back scenes. I stopped the transition half way through the video as i felt the audience would understand the narrative now, this was done after recommendation from my media studies teacher.

*MEDIA THEORY*

Audience:

When comparing my products in relation to Bulmer and Katz's 'Uses and Gratification' theory, the combination of my promotional product uses 2/4 of the 'needs' which the media the provides its audience. Firstly, 'surveillance', is established as this need relates back to the idea that we use the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security. My music video depicts this as it relates to the theme of sexuality, something that is prominent in today's media. My products also reflect the 'personal identity' need. The media allows artists to create an identity for themselves, which can then lead to these stars turning into role models, inspiring those around them. Their music videos and songs allow us to connect with such identities and help us 'fit' into society. As previously stated, due to the fact my music video features a lesbian relationship, which my artist is a part of, makes her more relatable to audiences watching, through the use of specific shot types including, over the shoulder and close ups. By creating a relatable artist in my products, it appeals to a mass audience making them more inclined to purchase and consume her products. My products also relate to Stuart Hall's 'Representation Theory', as he suggests that media texts are encoded by the producer, meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with their values and messages. However, the consumer will decode these values and messages in different ways. Hall identifies three ways media texts can be decoded, which are: the dominant/preferred reading, the negotiated reading and the oppositional reading. The dominant reading of my products would be for the audience to watch and interpret the narrative of sexuality and love and perhaps relate back to it, which would lead them to purchase the products. The negotiated reading would be that the consumer understands the ideology of my product but does not fully understand/accept the message. However, they still might purchase the product. The oppositional reading would be that they are against the ideology of the product and do not wish to purchase the product. My promotional package can also be related back to the 'Hypodermic Needle Theory', which suggests that the media injects messages into our head. My products are trying to inject the values and messages that different sexualities are ok and should be embraced by the media and not exaggerated.  This is shown through the simplistic nature of my video. However, some would criticise this theory as it is dated and we are not longer passive consumers, instead we are active, meaning that we chose what we consume.

 Narrative:

Tim O'Sullivan argues that all media texts tell us some kind of story.Through the careful use of mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories. In my music video, the narrative follows my artist as she reflects on a previous relationship, and then at the end the viewer finds out that her girlfriend died. O'Sullivan also stated that narrative theory sets out to show that what we experience when we 'read' a story is to understand a particular set of constructions or conventions. Therefore, due to the conventions that I have followed, such as close ups, over the shoulder shots, flashbacks, colouring etc, allows the viewer to makes sense of the narrative of my music video and perhaps relate back to it. Another theorist Kate Domaille, argues that music video narrative can be held in 1 of 8 narrative types. My music video fits in with the Romeo & Juliet type, as it is a love story and similarly ends in tragedy. My promotional package, to an extent, also relates to Michael Shore's theory of music videos. Shore stated that music videos are recycle styles and 'surface without substance'. My product relates to this in terms of the narrative and how presented it through the use of mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing. I used the prominent feature of colouring in my music video, as I felt this was the most effective way of demonstrating to the viewer the present and flash back scenes. I saw in particularly in Katy Perry's music videos, as I found they often revolve around the narrative of a former lover. My product also challenges Shore's theory, when he states that music videos are decadent and adolescent male fantasies. There is no form of self-indulgence in my music video. I did this purposely as lesbians in popular culture are usually sexualised in popular culture and I wanted this relationship to seem 'normal' not from a the males fictional perspective.

Representation:

My product goes against Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory. Despite being of the indie AND pop genre, I decided to follow through my feminist ideology I used when creating my AS music magazine last year, as I used the same artist who featured on the front cover and the magazine also centred around feminism. In addition, due to the fact I used a lesbian relationship in my video, I felt it would be inappropriate and against my own ideology to sexualise them. The aim of my music video was to make it apparent to viewers that same sex relationships are normal and should not be considered any different. By sexualising and objectifying the women in my video, would go against the messages and values I am trying to transmit through my video. To do this, I made sure my cast wore everyday comfortable outfits and that they had a natural make up. I also decided to not have any close-ups, pans of the breasts, bum etc. To carry on the feminism ideology, in my ancillary texts I made my artist look powerful and dominant, by shooting her at a mid shot and making the image in black and white. In relation to Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory', I believe that my artist does somewhat conform to the idea that, as Dyer states, "Stars represent and embody certain ideologies". Even though my artist is signed to major label Sony Music Entertainment, I have made sure has maintained her ideologies but still gives what the institution wants in order to make money. I also believe that my artist's ideology makes her easier to relate to, because they have a feature that a viewer would admire or share, as Dyer suggests. 

Genre:
As David Chandler argues, genre is used to refer to a distinctive type of text. This has been is seen in my promotional package, as they all follow the generic conventions of the indie and pop genre. As I chose a hybrid genre, I had to apply conventions from both into my products. This is evident as my music video is more simplistic and natural, whereas in my ancillary texts I have used conventions such as the a mid shot for my digipak front cover, also known as the 'money shot', which makes people more likely to purchase the album. Similarly, Barry Keith Grant argues this point and states that all genres have sub genres. They are divided into more specific categories that allow audiences to identify them specifically by their familiar and recognizable characteristics. This is also a feature of our post modern society, that we have more choice in the genre of music we can consume. We are no longer restricted to one as these music genre have become a bricolage. Jason Mitchell argues that industries use genre to sell products to audiences. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audiences knowledge of society. This means that even though my artist is signed to major label Sony Music Entertainment and represents the indie/pop genre, Sony have done this in order to widen their audience by signing different genres, opening up a new market. In relation to my video, Rick Altman argues that genre offers audiences a 'set of pleasures', emotional, visceral or intellectual puzzle. My product offers the audience an emotional pleasure due to the narrative being based around death. Finally, as Buckingham states "genre is not simply given by culture rather it is in a constant process of negotiation and change", this is apparent in my product due to the nature of the hybrid genre and being able to apply pop and indie conventions into my products.