Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts? The genre of my production is pop/indie/alternative. The digipak and magazine advert are vital parts to my overall production in promoting the band Scarlett Parade. After my music video was complete, I needed to think about how I would appropriately create my digipak so that it compliments my music video. Since most of my music video used generic conventions, it seemed useful to continue in this manner so that my productions relate to each other. Before I began creating my digipak and magazine advert, I did research into other artists for inspiration. I found an artist within the same genre and some interesting images of CD panels. This artist was called Charlene Soraia whose style of music is very much similar to Scarlett Parade. Other artists which inspired me to use the actors on each part of my production was Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora as they were also used in many parts of their digipak and advert.Our music video was primarily based on the concept of betrayal and regret. This was a recurring motif in my music video and to reinforce these themes, they should be added into the promotional package for more emphasis to increase on the impact to which audiences are able to relate to this. To do this effectively, the 4 panels I used and the advert, closely referenced the music video with the images used.DigipakFor panel 1 I decided to use the main themes of regret and betrayal and make an explicit reference to my music video. It is an image from Summer Song which is of the female holding up a placard, suggesting she is homeless and trying to hitch a ride but has the word betrayal on it. When using Photoshop, I changed the text to the name of the band and album so it doesnt have a negative look to it but expresses emotions from representations. To make this more explicit again, it is made to be black and white to suggested a flashback or an older image so it again, references the use of flashbacks from my music video. Then I added tints to panel 1 on the females hair which is a scarlet type colour which is a cunning idea as it links to the name of the band Scarlett Parade. The reason green and red colours were added by tinting was because it adds some character to the image. This has been done by artists such as Ed Sheeran, where an interpretation could be a reference to his ginger hair. It shows a more contemporary style so it will reach out to its intended target audience. Also the use of the black and white image is also used in recent albums such as Rita Ora. This is showing that an appropriate colour scheme has been identified and used throughout the whole of the promotional package.

DigipakFor panel 2 and 3, there needs to be a similarity between the two images which has a message that is simple to interpret. For my inside panels I decided to have the same shot of the male in the field for each, just reversed. A reason for this is that it portrays the sense that the male is feeling isolated and it alone in a large park, with only the thoughts in his head. There was a point during the music video where this is used so it is constantly referencing my other productions. Another reason for have these as my two inside panels is that not matter which way he turns, the haunting of the female is there as she is on panel 1 and panel 4 so there is no escaping from what happened which again, is another explicit reference from my music video, using conventions to represent the same genre.

Panel 2Panel 3DigipakPanel 4 shows an image of the female laying on the ground unconscious, not knowing whether she is dead or alive. The reason this has been used here is that it applies to the narrative of the music video, thus giving the audience a chance to interpret the images as they wish as there are similarities to the front panel and this one. I developed the idea of recurring motifs (Goodwin) such as the portrayal of vulnerability to the female and that she is seen as the victim, in order to strengthen the links between the music video and my print productions. The red hair has been used again to represent the band with the use of Scarlet.

Magazine AdvertisementThe magazine advert links to my music video because it shows another shot of the isolation which the male is facing, sitting on the bench, with a spare seat next to him. I amplified the theme of guilt, loss and isolation portrayed in the music video in the magazine advertisement in order to capture the mood of the music video. This has been reinforced throughout my production and was used again in my CD panels 2 and 3 where he was standing alone. This as been a recurring motif and also the use of ambient lighting is used when the male is in shot, but black and white for the female. This allows the audience to identify themselves clearly with the real time and flashbacks which occur. The Scarlett Parade text is in a bold white colour so that it links to the credits and the end of my music video which is also white text. There has been a fluent use of references in my promotional package which allows the audiences to connect and relate to the characters in the use of still images, whilst being about to gain interpretations linking to my music video as well.

Magazine Advert Intertextual ReferenceThis image her is of Princess Diana when she and Prince Charles visited India in 1992. It was at a time that their marriage was failing and later that year they split up.This image of her sitting on the bench has huge connotations of national grief and this image is associated with Dianas loneliness and could be said to anticipate her death. There are similar themes from this image to my advert and the two shots are very similar. They both show vulnerability and loneliness which are aspects identified from the mise en scene due to isolation.

Screenshots to show similarities between all 3 productions

The sense of isolation referenced in my panels 2 and 3 in my digipak and also my magazine advertisement.

Use of black and white as seen in my panel 1 and 4 of the female.

Use of the mise en scene is similar to that of my magazine advertisement.