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

ancillary texts?

Billy Clayton

Digipak After completing the music video for ‘Warriors’ by Coco & The Butterfields, the following process

was to produce a series of images that successfully reflected the themes of the music video in order to produce a Digipak. To do this, I created a mood board of screenshots from different scenes of the video and narrowed down to the most appealing shots which represented our target audience most suitably, regarding feedback from fellow students considered to be a possible target audience. These screenshots then allowed me to construct a photo shoot with our actress, Danielle which held the most aesthetic appeal whilst maintaining a bold link to the visuals presented in the video.

The visual themes in ‘Warriors’ are primarily reality, fairytale and illusion based, therefore, the use of costume and location both constructed and repeated motifs from our production. The use of the red hood and lipstick in my Digipak, which was taken from the Red Riding Hood scene, according to feedback was considered the most appealing to our possible target audience of 16 – 20 year old middle class white British females as it connotes articles of clothing sold at contemporary fashion businesses such as Topshop and H&M. This indication confirmed that the Red Riding Hood persona was most suited for the Digipak, thus I followed this theme for each panel.

Digipak – Panel 1 & 2 Panel 1, a low-angle close up of Danielle displays the actress looking over her shoulder wearing the red hood in

front of a grey sky and bare trees. The logo for the band has been photo shopped black and placed on her hooded shoulder in order to appear bold and significant. The use of this image as the front cover makes an explicit link to the music video as it connotes the scene in which Danielle turns to look over her shoulder at a close up whilst wearing the same costume on her journey through the fairy tale. A close up has been used in order to familiarize the audience with the artists face and create a developing visual style. It also conforms to Goodwin’s theory that focus on the performers lips has been made, both in our music video and the Digipak due to the use of red lipstick which has been used in order to dignify the actress as Red Riding Hood. The second panel is a medium close up, displaying Danielle’s profile with the hood up and a vast green field behind her. This panel, again makes a heavy visual link with our music video as it is reflective of the shot in which the camera films Danielle from the same angle whilst she lifts her hood and stands in a greenery-filled location, reinforcing the notion of a consistent promotional package. The use of colour saturation being altered supports the theme of fairy tale and illusion as Danielle’s hood, lips and eyes appear to be bold and captivating, whilst the grey sky looms around her, blurring the lines between illusion and reality as Danielle is the subject to the fairy tale universe in our music video. The use of fairy tale costume repeated from our music video in to the Digipak also acts as an intertextual reference to the promotional images of British indie group Florence & The Machine for the single ‘Rabbit Heart’ in which a mystical, other worldly theme has been incorporated.

Panel 1Screen shot from video

Panel 2Florence & The Machine Intertextuality

Digipak – Panel 3 & 4 Once again, panels 3 and 4 document the performers face in order to support the theme of a coherent

character based Digipak. My Digipak is designed to replicate those which come in the form of a plastic jewel case CD, therefore the third panel is shot at a portrait position and is a close up of the performers face with just a small glimpse of a green holly-bush behind her. The close-up shot at a portrait angle appropriately fits the panels use as the disc holder, with the disc fitting neatly over the performers face when inserted. The use of the bush within the location makes explicit reference to the music video as Danielle walks through a woodland-enclosed pathway before exiting in to the open and is filmed through a holly-bush in the process, allowing the audience to make this connection. This type of shot also strikes similarity to the cover of British singer-songwriter Marina & The Diamonds album ‘Froot,’ who are possible target audience are likely to be familiar with, in which a portrait close up has been used with the addition of red lipstick. For the fourth and final panel of the Digipak, the rule of thirds has been used in which the track titles occupy one third of the panel, whilst Danielle occupies another on the opposite side, with space between each. This panel makes visual links to the music video as Danielle is shot using this method during the second verse in the video, furthermore implying the characters journey and ambition within the Digipak. The same logo featured on the first panel has been reused for the back panel, this time coloured in red in order to appear bold against the greenery and conforms to Goodwin’s theory that artists develop common motifs which provide a visual style. The use of a bold, white font and red logo keeps the colour palate of the Digipak consistent as it matches with the costume and lighting in each photograph, supporting the shots used in the video itself which share these motifs.

Magazine Advertisement My magazine advertisement makes use of another low-angle close up photographed on the shoot of

the Digipak, similar to that of the front cover, however, this image features the performer with her hood up whilst using darker lighting, relying on shadows to create a further eerie and dramatic impression. It once again portrays the performer who has been featured both in the music video and on all four panels of the Digipak. This makes the character a tool to familiarity when possible members of the target audience recognise her in the music video from witnessing the advertisement prior, thus making the character an almost iconic figure due to her significance in the process of the ancillary texts. In addition to this, the repeated use of the same performer could generate hype from the possible target audience who may expect to see more from her once the advertisement and music video has been consumed, thus encouraging sales for the Digipak. The image makes visual reference to the music video as the shadows reflect the woodland scene in which Danielle looks around her in curiosity, provoking and reusing a sense of ambiguity for the characters safety on her journey. Danielle makes notion to looking four times in the Red Riding Hood scene alone as she attempts to learn of the strange new environment around her. The magazine advertisement repeats this as Danielle glances directly in to the camera which is below her, thus continuing the theme of the characters power whilst in an unfamiliar situation.

Music Videos which use the concept of a coherent package – Marina & The Diamonds ‘Froot’

Marina Diamandis, better known by her stage name as Marina & The Diamonds is a Welsh singer-songwriter. She released her debut album ‘The Family Jewels’ in 2010 which charted at number 6 on the official UK album charts and scored herself a number 1 with the 2012 follow up release ‘Electra Heart’. The singer, who’s music primarily consists of Indie-Pop and New Wave released her third album ‘Froot’ this week (16th March) which is currently at number 6 on the official UK album charts and presents a coherent visual theme when comparing the music video to the promotional package. Speaking about the background of the album, Diamandis stated ‘The songs all came from a very natural place for me. The themes heavily come from experiences where I have grown and developed significantly as a person and a songwriter. For the tour, I am going to create an electric garden with fruits and flowers growing from the stage’. When looking at Diamandis’ cover art, an image of the singer with neon stage lighting reflecting against her hair and a night sky against a black background, a theme of nature put in to a futuristic setting is present (hence the title with the altered spelling of ‘Fruit’). This is reflected in the music video for Froot in which the singer stands in a dimly lit doorway with just her face lit up and soft non-ambient lighting surrounding her. On the back panel of the album, the night sky is repeated with each track title underlined in a different colour. When looking at the audio videos uploaded to the singer’s YouTube Channel, each video uses this night sky with neon font and slot machine style images of Fruits, thus using a coherent visual style.

Album front and back covers

‘Froot’ official music video

‘Froot’ audio track on YouTube

Magazine/Public advertisement for ‘Froot’ album