For my evalution of coursework

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

2. The three texts all directly interlinked through
the repetition of imagery which provides that
remembrance and association for the audience.
It is important to have this for the audience to
recognise each part of the promotional package
when it works on its own. This can be said of the
images that are used on the digipak and advert,
taken straight from the locations in the video
which further represents the idea of distance
between the characters as set by the lyrics. This
includes the front cover of the digipak and the
image on the advert all of which are taken from
the first seen shot in the video. The fact this is
the first shot also allows the audience to identify
a link between the 3 products from the start –
establishing the bands identity and house style.
The image of the beach has the same effect
throughout, giving it a purple/blue tone to
symbolise the environment including water and
also the connotations of blue represent sadness,
expressed by the lyrics and to some degree the
weather.

3. The digipak, video and advert all use the same font and colour
scheme in order to provide the link. This sets an expectation for the
rest of the promotional package and makes it identifiable. The
colours of blue, purple and yellow are very much representative of
the imagery within the video. For example the links to the water,
the yellow being a link to the sun, the purple being a vibrant
mixture of deep colour to represent emotion which this song
features heavily. The contracts between blue and purple with the
yellow colour scheme provides a contrast between the sun and the
overcast sky in the video. It symbolises the difference between
happiness and sadness and it symbolises the two locations which
fits with the meaning of the song, focusing on a long distance
relationship. The font used for the band name and the album name
also replicate the existing album, which for fans of the band, will
already be recognisable and therefore should engage them into
wanting to buy this album.

4. The fact that the advert and digipak don’t feature an image
of the band on the cover is an important reason for the font
and colour scheme to be set. This means that even without
seeing the band it should be clearly exactly what the album
is and who is belongs to. I believe that our promotional
package does this well, all three have the use of the font in
one colour or another and the association is definitely
there. This is further represented in the presentation of the
bands name, despite changing colours, it appears
centralised on all 3 media products.

5. Despite the purpose of indie music being all about the music, the
band did need an appearance in the promotional package.
Therefore the image of the band by the beach huts is used on the
digipak – however in a hidden way. The aim was to have the image
of the band in front of the huts as the image under the CD and the
image of the huts alone as the top image so that when the CD is
removed the band are revealed. This provides an effective and yet
more subtle approach to having the band on the advert. In doing
this, it turned out successful and so the band on our digipak are
hidden yet are existent. This provides almost and excitement and
engagement for the audience because on first instance they don’t
appear on it. This would be similar of their current albums where
they do not feature at all and so to some degree this also challenges
the conventions set by this particular band. It is therefore even
more significant for our audience.

6. The advert and the digipak, unlike the video also include
the record label and all the important information about
the production of the album. This is an important feature of
the promotional package because this information
wouldn’t be known without the introduction of these two
products in the promotional package. This provides a link
to the industry and again the importance of the music, in
the fact that there is no image of the band but there is a
selection of links to social media and their website, as well
as those who produce the music. This gives the audience
the opportunity to look further into the band and their
label, particulaly upon the release of a new song.

7. In conclusion, the music video, digipak and magazine
advert all use a variety of set codes and conventions in
order to provide a substantial link for the audience,
while also giving symbolic references throughout. Just
from the outlook of the digipak and magazine advert it
is clear for the audience the message and idea
surrounding the music video due to the amount of
symbolic foreshadowing. This makes the audience
question the promotional package and thus spend
more time appreciating it in order to figure it out. This
links to the abstract convention of indie music which
as a group we have successfully done through the
combination of out ancillary texts.