Media Evaluation Question 2
- 1. Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks? BY SAM CARTER
- 2. Our Brand Concept Our brand concept was to comply with the majority of the conventions of the pop genre. This meant that our video and ancillary pieces would have to be bright, lively and appeal to a younger audience as these are generally the audience that listen to pop music. Our target audience that we specifically aimed at was young adults in their late teens, so approximately from the ages 16- 19. We chose this audience as both the pop genre and this age group means that we are aiming at a mass audience. As mentioned this would mean our brand would have to be exciting and conventional of the pop genre in order to interest our target audience. The reason we identified that we wanted to comply with generic pop conventions was that many music videos had been successful doing this. This means that when it comes to distributing the music video more music institutions would be interested in investing in it as there will be less of a risk of them losing money if we comply with the generic formulae for a pop video.
- 3. The Logo The logo I created for our group applied to our target audience as we thought it had modern connotations to the space background. The background of the letters is an image I found off of Google that shows a cosmic, astronomical sky. We thought this would suit our target audience as the idea of space has connotations of modern technology and possibly the younger generation. However, although the modernistic connotations of the background to the letters may appeal to our target audience it doesn’t specifically apply to our brand concept. Generally the conventions of pop don’t encompass similar ideas to space. This is especially clear when looking at it through the theory of Chandler, that suggests each genre has different codes and conventions, as generally the pop genre doesn’t relate to space. Nevertheless the bright colours of the letters do contrast with the black background which can suit our brand concept as it is a bright colour. Also continuity from our logo throughout our ancillaries and our music video can be seen as throughout our work we have tried to make it colourful and lively in order to appeal to our target audience.
- 4. The Font The font that we used throughout our ancillaries remained the same to show continuity. Although we didn’t include any text in our music video we tried to link the font colour with the colour of the actress’ eyes, meaning that the ancillary's link to the music video. The colour we chose was a pale blue, this is shown in the front cover of the album and a gif I created of the first shots of the video on the left, showing the continuity of the colour. Another reason we chose this colour is because our target audience were of both male and female genders. By choosing a relatively neutral colour of pale blue we hoped to not deter the male audience from being interested in the album. However, we decided that the main colour on the website was going to be purple as after trying blue as a main colour and receiving feedback on it it didn’t suit the rest of the images of the female artist. To try and appeal to the male part of our audience we inserted shades of blue around the writing as can be seen from the screenshot of the website. However, due to purple having connotations of the female gender and also the website containing multiple pictures of the female we may not have been as successful as we’d have hoped in appealing to both genders on our website. The actual font that we used on our website and the front cover of the album was ‘Reklame Script’. We chose this as we thought it suited our target audience and also the genre of pop the most as it is a lively and modern font that could attract our target audience. Also this font can be linked to Chandler’s genre theory that states that there are general codes and conventions for particular genres. Stereotypically the pop genre is lively and colourful, which we have complied with with the font we have used. As we used the font in both the album cover and the website we hoped that it would attract our target audience to both of these products.
- 5. Front Cover The front cover continues our brand concept of being bright and also continues what all the other products have done and includes a picture of the artist’s face. As mentioned the colour of the font was made to match the colour of the artist’s eyes as much as possible. The reason we did this was to create a memorable icon that the artist has and can be continued throughout our products. Also the close up on her face allows the make up to be shown. This can be seen as showing a symbol of feminism as she is embracing that she wears make up and it is clearly seen that she is wearing make up on her eyes. This helps to show the colour of her eyes which makes it one of the most significant parts of the album cover. This shows why we continued with the colour of her eye as it is such a significant part of the cover. Also the fact that she is wearing her make up can show that she is not afraid of what people think of her and that she embraces her femininity. The framing of the shot and the fact that only one half of her face can be seen can be linked to the continuing theme throughout our products of a relationship break up. It can be linked as it could show that the half of the face that can be seen represents her life at present, whereas the other half of her face hasn’t been included, or been left behind; similar to the male character in the video.
- 6. Inner Booklet The inner booklet of our album shows continuity of the theme of a relationship break up. This is a genre characteristic of pop as many other songs and artists in the pop genre, such as Taylor Swift, sing about relationship break ups. The inner booklet continues this theme as it includes quotes from other songs off the album that the audience can infer are being sung about relationship break ups. The pale blue colour is also an example of the colour continuing from the aforementioned album title and the artist’s eyes. The logos of Spotify, iTunes and Shazam in the bottom right corner of the inner booklet provide intertextuality in the booklet. This may help the artist increase in fame as the audience who is reading this intertextuality may then search the artist on these sites, and then share it on social media. Although our audience are a mass audience the rise in prominence of these online sites have aided the rise in popularity of niche artists. This can be linked to Anderson’s Long Tail theory that states our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number mainstream products and toward a huge number of niche products. This is due to the decreasing importance of physical shelf space due to being able to purchase music off sites such as Spotify and iTunes. This wouldn’t help our brand concept as we are aiming it a mass audience, and Long Tail theory suggests that these internet sites aid the rise of niche artists. Pictures of the printed inner booklet are on the right, the outside cover shown in the second picture down and the inner pages third page down. The reason we used the same pictures as the front and back cover for the inner booklet was so we could continue with showing the artist as much as possible and also to provide continuity throughout the album.
- 7. Back Cover The picture of the album cover was intended to continue the theme throughout our products of a relationship break up. The picture came from when we were filming on set and we thought it linked to the continued theme. We though this as the picture shows the artist walking away from the camera. This signifies her walking away from the relationship and the male character in the video outside. Also we included her walking her away while we were at the outside setting to add another link to the song. After trialling the font that we had continued throughout the products on the tracks on the back cover we decided to alter the font. This was because the tracks weren’t clear to the audience after receiving feedback different people. Also the colour of the font is different to what we had used as if we continued with the same colour this would also have made the track names unclear. Due to us having to change the colour and font to write the track names we were disappointed as we couldn’t provide complete continuity throughout the products. To change this we could have changed the picture on the back. However, by the time we had realised this error it was too close to the deadline to take another photo at a different setting. We inserted a barcode and the copyright text to give the album an authentic look. Due to the increased websites and companies such as Spotify and iTunes the need to buy a physical album has decreased, seeing the closure of many HMV stores. However, some people still prefer to buy the album so they have a physical copy of the music they have bought, providing nostalgia to when the album was more prominent. For this reason it was still necessary to create a physical album for the audience to buy instead of just making the album available to purchase online.
- 8. The Website The website that we created as part of our ancillary task I think has complied with what we were hoping to achieve. In relation to it applying to our target audience I think that on the whole it has done this. I think this because we have included lots of bright colours and the continuity of the font ‘Reklame Script’ throughout the products gives the website a bright and lively feel, hopefully appealing to our target audience. This is shown by the picture on the right which shows the font and the bright colours used. However, the picture on the right is also an example, which I have mentioned, of us not appealing to both genders of our target audience as purple may suit the female gender more than the male. We included the news articles and the ‘About the Artist’ page to allow the artist to find out additional information, as shown by the picture on the right. This can be linked to the ‘Uses and Gratification’ theory that states one reason audiences consume media is to identify themselves in the artist. By including this information the audience may be able to relate themselves to the artist and as the audience will mostly be our target audience they could see the artist as a role model and therefore be interested in the additional news about her. To allow the audience to find out further information about the artist we created a page that included a subscription page to a mailing list and also the links to her social media pages, shown on the right. This again can be linked to the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory as the audience can find out more information and relate to the artist. Also the mailing list can be linked to the Push and Pull theory as the audience is pulling content towards them by requesting information, then news from the artist will be pushed towards them via emails. The ‘About the Artist’ page along with the whole website shows the continuity of showing multiple shots of the artist’s face. We did this during the music video, and then also on the album. The reason we did this is to build up her star image in the hope to increase her fame and popularity as people would begin to recognise her face.
- 9. Links between the ancillaries and the music video A link that can be made between the ancillaries and the music video is that they are all focussed on the artist. In the music video this is done through numerous shots of her lip synching in order to tell the story of her relationship break up, shown by the example on the right. This adheres to Goodwin’s music video analysis that states that music videos have the same key features, one of them being that there are multiple shots of the artist’s face. This is also done throughout the ancillaries of the website and the album, an example of the website is on the right. The reason for this was to build up the artist’s star image. This originates from Dyer’s Star Theory that states a star is an image, not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials. This can be linked to our ancillaries as we have used the website and album cover to construct this image and used the website to post news about the artist in order to increase her popularity. This can also be linked to the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory that suggests people consume media for different purposes. It can be linked as one of the reasons that people may consume media is for inspiration, in reference to our products people could use the news items and the numerous pictures of the artist in inspiration for their own lives.
- 10. Another link that can be made between the ancillaries and the music video, as I have previously mentioned, is the theme of relationship break ups. This theme is shown in the music video through a variety of shots that express the artist’s emotions. One of these shots show the artist ripping up the photo of the couple, emphasising that there is a break up, this is shown in the first gif to the right. This shot is then followed by a sequence of dancing by the artist’s, showing that the artist is expressing her freedom from the relationship by her fast paced dancing. Also throughout the video there are numerous shots of the artist thinking, showing that she is unhappy with the relationship and then towards the end it shows her breaking from this relationship, an example of this shot is in another gif to the right. This shot, as well as others in the video, are examples of shots that can be linked to Mulvey’s male gaze theory as they appeal to the heterosexual male. In this theory Mulvey states that women have two roles in media, as an erotic object for the characters within the film to view, or as an erotic object for the audience to view. In our video it is the second option that would apply to the artist in these voyeuristic shots. The theme of a relationship break up can also be seen on the website as there are many pictures of the artist with her head in her hands or looking upset. As shown in the whole background of the website. Linking to the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory the theme can be related to by our target audience. The theory explains that one way reason the audience may consume media is to identify and see parts of themselves in the artist. This may occur in our theme of a relationship break up as stereotypically the during the age of our target audience there is love and heart breaks for the first time. Links between the ancillaries and the music video