How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?

1. How effective is the
combination of your main
and ancillary texts?

2. I have produced three media products for the
Artist, Isaiah Dreads, including a music video for
the song 'Hype In The Booth', as well as a
complete digipak for their first album and finally
a magazine poster promoting the album, using
music magazine 'iD'.
Throughout the development of these three products
I have maintained synergy, as I believe this is the key
in our target audiences relation between the products
and their association with the artist. Through market
research I discovered that synergy was a crucial
element to any professional marketing campaign and
so resultantly I took into consideration the aesthetics
of each product and ensured they were interlinked
and helped to develop each product as a unit and
individually also.

3. Synergy between the main ancillary texts was
produced through aligning all products with the
London Grime genre, as well as maintaining
originality and individual through creativity.
Overall the relationship between the main and
ancillary texts was essential in creating realistic
and professional looking media products.
Synergy and London Grime Music

4. How are all the products connected?
The primary way in which all three
products are linked is through the close
ups of Male protagonist Patson Travers, I
thought using these close ups of the artist
consistently was a fundamental way of
creating synergy between the products
because the artist strongly fits the London
Grime genre and these images embed a
connection to this. Due to the fact the
artist is unsigned, this synergy allows the
audience to visually connect and develop a
relationship with the artist. The key aspect
of the artist close up shots comes from the
main text, being the music video, which for
almost the whole video shows the artist
rapping the song 'Hype In The Booth'
which is one of the main songs on the
album, 'Lights Turn Green' which is
furthermore promoted by the magazine
poster.

5. The digipak cover photo was taken in a
tunnelled bridge, which can be seen
vaguely in the background of the music
video. The simplistic backdrop prevents
distraction from the male protagonist,
Patson Travers, who features on all three
media products.
The still image on the front of the
digipak was taken post music
video shooting. Seeing as our
music video was filmed prior, as
well as the magazine shoot being
shot prior - allowed me to take the
key elements and focuses of our
video and magazine shoot and
apply them to the digipak design,
creating synergy between the
products.
A screenshot from the official ‘Hype In The Booth’
Music Video

6. The digipak is mostly made up of artist images, however the CD disk within the digipak is
taken from the magazine cover. The magazine cover displays an extreme low angle shot
looking up at the male protagonist and the skyline is in vision. The background displays
urban London which is a major element of the London grime genre. In addition to this, the
reflected side shots of the tunnel itself presents a contrasting industrialised London,
holding a juxtaposition of the natural landscape used on the CD. Whilst the industrialised
images capture the genre's reputation the naturalistic pictures present the heart and
freedom of the freestyle rap itself.
vs
When reflecting on how I
could improve the synergy of
the products. I would argue
that although the disk has
strong connotations with the
genre, perhaps it has lesser
synergy with the other media
products as it is noticeably
less urbanised.
Although the digipak photo shoot was taken post magazine and video shoot, the disk holds
a lesser relation with the other images. The lighter colour of the CD does not reflect the
darker and faded images of the magazine/music video. Despite synergy being strong
between our products I might base the CD image around our music video shoot location,
to make connection with the song 'Hype In The Booth'.

7. By using the location of the
music video shoot as a
magazine cover location also, in
my opinion creates an ideal
synergy between the two media
products. Artist I took
inspiration from was J Cole from
his album Forest Hill Drive. This
displays an example from a
signed and established artist
which enables us to take the
growth of an artist and hope it
is mirrored in the career of our
artist 'Isaiah Dreads'.
On J. Cole's 31st
birthday, January
28, 2016, he
released his first
live album,
Forest Hills
Drive: Live.

8. The first noticeable observation from our media
products is the synergy in the media fonts used. There is
synergy in both the font styles and the font colours. This
works as both contrast with the darker coloured
backgrounds and therefore stand out and catch
audience attention.
The title on the front is the same colour as the title of
songs on the digipak's back too. Adding to the synergy
and is also in the same colour as fonts on the magazine
cover.
*Digipak back image*
I took influence from the artist Stormzy who
was voted Grime act of the year for both 2014
and 2015 proving his pedigree in the industry.
He used the same background colours as well
as fonts for his album WickedSkengman4 in
2015 which proved very successful.
Yungen used the same colours for his album
Project Black and Red, whilst he used the same
colours when promoting his hit single 'Ain't On
Nuttin'' - this enables the audience to draw a
connection between the artist and his albums,
as well as his hit songs.

9. Synergy between the music video and the magazine poster was created through using similar
shot angles which present the genre strongly. We use a number of low angle shots which
present our artist as powerful and in control. These angles are often used in the genre and
examples can be taken from the music of Stormzy for example. Synergy is also created
through the artist wearing the same attire in both the magazine shoot and the music video. It
is also worth noting the fact that both the magazine shoot and music video was shot during
the night in London, creating a distinct recognisable synergy between the media products.
A way in which we could have furthered the symmetry between would have been
by including the precise point of the magazine shoot in the photo somehow. I may
have been able to do this by using the balcony in the short opening narrative
which sees the artist travel through urban south London. However when filming
the video I did not pre-meditate the magazine cover and I feel the imagery would
have been forced.

10. To create further synergy within my digipak I
decided to reflect the same image if the
tunnel on the inner covers of the digipak,
which makes the urbanised London imagery
even more so recognisable. The tunnel
imagery can also be seen in the background of
the close up shots of our artist. The front shot
and back shot (both close ups) draws very
similar elements to the album 'Nothing Was
The Same', by Drake. Drake is probably the
most famous rapper of today and is constantly
successful when dropping new singles and
albums, which he has been credited for with
numerous prestigious awards. The skyline
used as a backdrop is used on our CD itself
and in combination create a very similar effect
to Drake's own album, as it catches elements
of Drake's album whilst capturing the London
Grime's own scenic picture.
A screenshot from the official ‘Hype In The Booth’
Music Video

11. Another major influence for the synergy of my
products was the Drake album, The Cure,
which uses synergy in colour between the
front cover, back cover and CD. The main
feature of the front cover is the artists'
presence with a pretty insignificant
background, not to draw attention away from
artist himself and his importance. Where the
digipak creates synergy is through the obvious
and simple colours used not to take away from
the artists' talent, portrayed through his music;
which is mirrored in our digipak.

12. Another example of synergy through colour
and shot type, being Bugzy Malone's album
'Best Of Bugzy Malone The Mix', which uses
simple texts which is featured on both the
front and back of the album, mirroring each
other and creating synergy between the sides.
Also the colours mirror the effect of the photo
of the artist, using a black and white theme,
simplistic once again.
Through seeing synergy within professional
work I felt it necessary to produce a
relationship between my products to such a
standard. Similarly to Drake and Bugzy Malone
examples given my magazine poster and
digipak followed a distinct pattern. Firstly the
colour scheme of white simple fonts featured
in both products, for the name of the album as
well as the song list. Furthermore, the same
type of images, all featuring close ups of our
artist were seen across all products in
particular with similar imagery used
throughout the digipak.

13. Another key aspect which created synergy
between the main and ancillary texts is
the clothes worn by the artist, on the days
of filming the artist scenes for the music
video we were able to shoot stills in-
between scenes and during breaks to
capture images for our magazine and
digipak while we assessed the footage we
had for the music video. The background
and location is easily recognisable from
scenes of the 'Hype In The Booth' video.
Furthermore the digipak front cover was
shot in the same location however in a
tunnel allowing focus on our male
protagonist, ideal for the shape of a
digipak front cover. The Adidas tracksuit
worn by the artist throughout helped
create synergy as the style of the artist is
replicated throughout the media products
and therefore establishes an artist image.

14. The task in hand was to produce a promotional package for the album and so there
was extreme importance placed upon creating a synergetic link between the music
video and an ancillary text. The idea of synergy within the marketing and promotion
campaign of the band is key to a successful reception of the bands music which is
the main focus of the promotional package. A good example of this is the fact that if
an audience member is visually stimulated by the magazine advert then they are
more likely to view the music video and then to proceed and but the album/digipak
because all three products feature synergistic elements which created the initial
interest. Overall the use of synergy between the products and there
interrelationship will enable the successful marketing and in turn sales of the album
which is the main idea of a promotional package.

15. In hindsight I must say I am extremely
pleased with the products we as a group
have produced, I think in the short time
frame we had we done performed well in
the promotional package. My favourite
product is our music video, as we were
able to assess our footage and over a long
period of time create a transition from
raw footage to our edited and eventually
completed music video. The lengthy but
worthwhile post production process was a
pleasant and rewarding process
presenting not only our products but our
groups progress in media.
Key feedback which encouraged our
media production stated; 'I am a fan of
the grime genre, but since discovering
Isaiah Dreads through your media
package I have taken a completely new
perspective on the underground sector
of the industry'.