How effective is the combination of your main

product and ancillary tasks?

By Mollie Field

The combination of my main texts and other mediums such as my DigiPak and website made the

overall product and promotion of my new artist seem professional.

Ancillary task one- My DigiPak

Front cover-A key feature of the front over was a image of the artist. This was something that I would continue throughout in my website as I felt it was a important factor that would establish the artists identity. This front cover is something that appears on the website as a advertisement promoting the new album. The image had to draw attention to the viewer and would have to look engaging. The image I felt also had to reflect the image of my artist strongly. The body language of Faith was something that I felt was effective in the image. The eye level angle of the shot gives a sense of intimacy as we are looking straight into Faiths eyes. The color of the image was edited using Photoshop tools. The tones of the image became more brown and warm this was a overall feel that I wanted to continue in my texts creating the idea of nature. I wanted to create a sepia tone to the image. This color scheme was something that continued in the two other images used in the CD panel and the back cover. The font was a key convention I have used throughout my texts. The one style of font was something that I used on the back cover of the digipak and was similar to the text used on my webpage.

To produce my digipak I used computer software Adobe Photoshop, working along side a template I received of student website ‘Moodle’. The design of my digipak was inspired by my research into the style of acoustic folk music, the song lyrics and the overall style and genre of my artist; folk. It was very important to me that the design for all my texts looked similar and carried a house style and color throughout. This is something I felt important to make my artist marketable and recognizable to my target audience. Finally the super8 effect that was a key feature of my music video matched the style of my ancillary tasks and carried the same connotations to create a strong and recognizable image for my artist.

Original Image.

The back cover of my digipak again works with the front cover in terms of colour and style. The image used on the back cover is a landscape shot something very different to the first image but works along side the colours of the image on the front cover. The image is of a wooden deserted shed and a area full of trees. This is a theme that has been continued in the CD panel and 4th panel. The wooden texture used on these create a plain texture that matches with the front and back cover. The same font is featured on the back cover to again keep the image consistent throughout. The back cover features key conventions of a digipak such as my institutional logo, a barcode and list of tracks. The use of lyrics on the CD panel is a convention of digipaks. This again promotes the single ‘Unknown’. Back page

CD panel 4th panel

Ancillary task two- Website

• The creation of my website I used web 2.0 software Wix. It was important for

me that my website followed the overall house style of my other texts. The website needed to coincide with

the digipak as they are both promotional products for my artist and must be recognisable together in terms

of style. Following the research and planning process I knew that my

website needed to include conventions of artist websites

My website works effectively along side my digipak and video, my website holds the an advert for the digipak and a features the video on in. This immediately creates links through different media platforms this promotes my artist successfully and creates synergy.

. Such conventions of website I have followed such as the masthead being large and top of the page, this immediately grabs the attention and identifies what the page is about. The font for this was carefully chosen to fit with the overall feel of not just the webpage but faiths music. The subheadings that follow underneath the masthead are conventional to what would be needed to allow fans to gain as much information they need, headings such as news, blog, events appear. These subheadings are essential to appealing to a target audience as features such as the ‘blog’ allows fans to create a network together. ‘Faith daze’ is a feature that is personalised and stands out from the conventions. This was the idea of Faiths own clothing range. This was a feature that would again promote faith as more than just a artist.

The use of social networking links is a main convention of the website and is a feature than would reach Faith’s target audience and would also gain her a wider target audience. As the demand for technology is growing this was a feature that was essential to the website. The social networking links were aesthetically pleasing and visualise vintage stamps, this is something that links with the theme of the super 8 effect and coincides with the house colours of browns and creams used on the digipak. Creative decisions made on the website such as the background were chosen to reflect aspects of the digipak and video.

. The ripped paper texture of the background again is similar to the wooden effect on the digipak and carries the same natural feel. I choose to put a super8 effect over the advertisement for Faith’s album ‘Abyss’ this is something that matches with a key feature of the video and immediately creates similar images and matching styles for the audience. This is something I feel is very important in making a artist stand out from other; the idea of their overall image and also a unique nature of their image. The use of textures is something that follows through the texts, the use of ripped brown paper for text boxes is something I believed to look edgy and unique. The text boxes are brown and again match the digipak cover. The use of textures throughout the design aspects of the digipak and website is something that is reflected in the video as I feel like the natural rustic feel id present throughout all three texts.

The super 8 effect is a effect that created a very vintage image, this is something that I wanted my website to have. I feel like this vintage retro style is apparent in the ‘faith music player’ feature featured on the home page of the website. This feature features the title of Faith’s album creating synergy and is a unique feature of the website that I felt was personal. The retro tape has a strong image and is something that really matched with the style of the super 8 effect , home video feel my video has.

Second page- News

This page features a lot that I have discussed

about the homepage. I felt the hyperlinked

pages should follow the same layout and visual

approach as the homepage to make the website easy to use and also memorable. This is something that is very

important as the website is key to

representing a artist!

Main Text- Music Video My music video is both narrative and performance. The song itself tells story

of heartbreak and has a emotional feel. The song is slow and acoustic. The video is all about memories and the narrative reflects a man looking upon his life now compared to his happier past. The video was filmed with a hand held camera to create a home movie theme. This is stylistic choice that I decided to do to match the super 8 effect. The crackly quality of the narrative is something I wanted to achieve. This I feels along with the super 8 effect creates a real sense of memories and vintage feel. I wanted the video to look rough and real to fit in with the indie genre. The stylistic choices I feel created a really strong quirky feel for my video that is defiantly genre appropriate.

What parts of the final music video do you

think combine effectively with the other two

texts?

The narrative parts of the video I think work effectively with the other two texts. I think the visual style of the models in the video is something that reflects upon the stylistic choices of the website and digipak. The overall natural, vintage, hippy image that is reflected through not only the texts but also through faith as an artist is something that I think all aspect of the mise-en-scene create. Again the super 8 effect is a part of the mise-en-scene that is specifically effective to create this image. Another aspect of the video is the text at the beginning of the video, the text is similar to the font choices used throughout the digipak and website. Another part of the mise-en-scene that effectively combines my final video with the two ancillary texts is the varied use of locations. Overall my video is genre appropriate and has a strong quirky image which is something that works along side my other two texts to create a house style for Faith as a marketable artist.