How effective is the combination of your main

product [music video] and ancillary texts

[digipak and advert]?MAISIE HALL

The music video, digipak and magazine advert combined together are effective as

I have created a promotional package.During the research and planning

stages I recognised the importance of creating products that tie together, thus it was imperative that I construct

a promotional package rather than three separate entities.

To create a successful promotional package a key theme and a key motif is

essential. A theme and a motif is essential because it develops a brand identity that an

audience would recognise.

The key link between my main and ancillary products is the rabbit imagery - a mask used in both the music video and as a still image on the digipak and magazine advert. Through the rabbit imagery my ancillary products link to the music video, and each product supplements each

other within the promotional package.

For all three products I was as consistent as possible in creating and maintaining a theme that linked them

together. Through the rabbit imagery I conveyed themes of fear and surrealism.

Visually, in the music video, I conveyed this through a combination of the spatial, empty forest and the rabbit

mask.

I filmed wide, long shots and placed the person in the rabbit mask in the centre of the shot with the large trees in the background. It emphasises a surreal, unnatural theme – the juxtaposition of a

person, a person who looks animalistic, against a natural backdrop.

The girl in the music video is being chased, running constantly from a person in a rabbit mask. In most of the

shots she is dwarfed by the trees, emphasising how small she is compared to the desolate forest; this implied

the surreal theme of the video.

I was influenced by ‘Alice in Wonderland’ quite significantly for my promotional package. I perpetuated the influence of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by tying the rabbit featured in the video into my print products (digipak and

magazine advert). I took a photograph of the mask against a white wall and manipulated the image into a 3D-like design on both the magazine advert and the

digipak. The album title is called ‘In Wonderland’, further linking the products together.

The link between the products – the motif, the mask – emphasises the brand

identity. Audiences would be able to easily recognise the brand because the rabbit imagery is replicated throughout my promotional package. The rabbit images on both the digipak and the magazine advert are memorable

because to the viewer it is deceptive. On one glance it is assumed that it is a 3D image, however upon closer look it is

two dimensional. It is an illusion.

On both the digipak and the magazine advert I placed importance on creating a striking image. I used white space effectively to allow the 3D-like

rabbit to catch the viewer’s eye. In the music video I used the natural background to make the rabbit stand out, for the print products I effectively used

white space.

The magazine advert and digipak, like the music video, are carefully

constructed to look balanced. The balance in the print products is through the layout, font and images are placed effectively in the centre. In the music video the actors are framed in the

centre of the camera shot. This made it look more effective and professional.

I was conventional in creating a brand identity for the band. I replicated the digipak front

cover’s image onto the centre of the magazine advert.

Replicating it onto the magazine advert results in brand

awareness as the advert is representing the actual product.

Indie music – both in albums and in music videos – plays with surrealism frequently. Using the rabbit mask

throughout the promotional package highlights the genre, which further creates brand awareness and identity. The mask I purchased for the music video

featured in music videos such as ‘Lions in Cages’ by Wolfgang.

The music video, digipak and magazine advert tie together effectively through the motif: the rabbit imagery. It is effective, bold and memorable. Audience feedback

indicated that the link between the print products and the music video was clear. The brand is highlighted through

the symbiotic relationship between the print products and the music video. Overall my promotional package is

effective because the link between the products is palpable and unavoidable.