1. Advanced Portfolio
Initial Research
Poster/digipack and Website Codes and Conventions
Task
• Select one film / artist which is comparative to your film idea /music artist with
regard to genre/sub-genre (You could use the one you have already been
comparing in your analysis of trailers/music videos)
• Access the website for this film/artist and look at the associated poster / an
album Digipack or CD cover design
• Analyse the codes and conventions in detail using the following headings, write
down your findings.
Film / Artist: Pierce the Veil.
Web Address: http://tumblr.piercetheveil.net/
Album/Poster: Collide with the sky.
Genre/ Subgenre: Rock/ Post Hardcore.
Website analysis
Brief Film Plot Synopsis/Artist Biog
Embracing their defiant brand of progressive post hardcore and gaining a rabid fan
base thanks to their incredible live show, Pierce The Veil have become a hot
commodity over the past few years. But with the release of stunning new album
Collide With The Sky, the San Diego natives are truly en fuego.
Deploying every shred of musical prowess in their artillery, Pierce the Veil have
poured heart and soul into new album Collide With The Sky - and it shows. Blending
the unique vocal style of singer Vic Fuentes, incendiary guitar lines and soaring
melody, the band's third album is an aural exploration that at once both packs a
punch, while finding the pockets of calm in the chaos - a talent that has made the
band such a refreshingly exhilarating force in the scene. Having toured with some of
the biggest names in the music, including Bring Me The Horizon, A Day To
Remember, Of Mice & Men, Thursday and The Devil Wears Prada, the band tear into
a packed tour schedule in support of Collide With The Sky, with a full summer on
Vans Warped Tour's main stage and a UK headline tour this fall.

2. Briefly describe the content of the homepage / first impressions
At the top of the homepage there is an image spread across the top of the website of
the band and their band name, underneath is the menu with a selection of links to
different information pages. Down the left hand side is a link with their latest music
video “King for a day” featuring a performance with Sleeping with Sirens frontman
Kellin Qunnin. Underneath that is a picture link to their new album “Collide with the
Sky” telling us its available now and underneath that is there album before their
newest one “Selfish Machine” this is also a picture link.
When you click on the picture link for “Collide with the sky” it takes you to a new
page where it shows you where you can buy their album, shows you each individual
song that you can buy on ITunes, and an ITunes review of their album.
Describe the home page in detail using the following sections:
Was the site easy to navigate? Describe the navigation tools used e.g. drop down
menus/banners etc.
At the top of the page underneath the picture banner, there is a banner menu with 8
links that direct you to different pages of the website. Underneath the ‘Media’ link a
drop down menu appears with the selection of ‘Music, Photo’s and Video’s’ this is
the only button with a drop down menu. The site is very easy to navigate through,
each button/link is easily visible and the pace to each page is very quick, it doesn’t
take forever like some websites. As you click the different buttons on the navigation
bar it takes you to the different pages, but the navigation bar and the band image at
the top of the page stays at the top of the page, it’s a continuous navigation bar and
image that’s throughout the entire website.
What colours were used principally on the homepage ? How many colours were
used in the palette?
The main colours of the website are black blue and white these are the colours used
throughout the entire website. The background is black and the boxes surrounding
any posts on their website are a dark blue/turquoise colour and the text throughout
the website is white. Not many colours have been used on the website itself, the
only colours that differ from the main style are the colours on pictures and videos.

3. Was there a specific site style e.g. layout / typography i.e. a common look for the
page? Describe it?
The colour style is specific to the music genre because their a rock band, also the way
its set out. They have constant updates down one side of their page and
albums/videos/links on the other. The navigation bar used is unique/individual to the
band. The page is very simple but the use of colours, images, text makes it look good.
How many and what images did the page contain? What was the purpose of the
images? Technical construction e.g. close up/low angle etc?
The homepage contains a close up/mid shot image of the band which is consistent
throughout all pages. There is also a small image of their latest album on their image
banner. Down the right hand side of their website they have two large images of
their current album and the album that they released before. There are several
images that they have taken themselves of either setting up one of their gigs or of
themselves, however both images are mid shots of the band and the stage the band
are performing on. The purpose of the images of the albums are to advertise them
so people will buy them, the purpose for the image banner at the top of the page is
to advertise the band and let the people know who’s site it is.
What was the tone of the copy – i.e. style of language _formal/humorous etc. What
could you find out about the film/artist from reading the text?
The tone of the website is quite formal however some of the things they have
uploaded themselves are a little humorous, you can tell that its them because
they’ve got a personal tone to some of the posts they have upload. For example
competition updates and new gig releases are formal, but when they have uploaded
an image or a personal paragraph then they have their own tone to it, sometimes
quite humorous but sometime just informal. On the website there is a page called
‘Bio’ this is where the band tells us about themselves, who their influences are and
who they have toured with, basically it gives us a background on the band. As for the
homepage there isn’t really that much text that tells us anything interesting.
How many pages did the homepage link to? What were these pages? How did the
links operate? Where were the links positioned?
The navigation bar has 8 links that take you to different pages. The ‘Bio’ link gives us
a brief about the band, the ‘Shows’ link takes us to all their shows with links to
‘Ticketline’ to buy tickets. The ‘Media’ button links us to all their, videos, music and
photos. The ‘Contest’ button takes us to a page with all the different competitions
on. The ‘Store’ link takes you to bigcartle.com to buy merch. The ‘Mailing list’ link
takes you to the record company’s website and the ‘Contact;’ link shows you how to
contact the management

4. Does the website promote a CD release/showcase the film poster – where were
these located within the site? How were they promoted? Style/layout etc.
The website promotes their new CD. This is located all over their website page as the
style of the website doesn’t change only the content does. The album image is
always located on the image banner at the top of the website and on the right hand
side of the website.
Were there any examples of Interactivity/Flash/Video Streaming or Real Audio?
How were these used? What did they add to the homepage?
On the homepage in the right hand corner there is a box with their latest music video
in, when you click on the link it takes you to YouTube so you can watch it, it also does
this with all the videos in the ‘Media’ page. It added more interaction to the
homepage.
Could you tell by the style of the site which genre the film/artist belonged to? How?
You could tell from some of the aspects on the website which genre it was for
example a poster on the homepage showing what festivals they were at and who
was going gave you a good idea, but overall look at the website does fit the style
genre because of the images/colours/text use the overall feel to the website.
Write down anything you think worked particularly well on the home page?
I think the use if images were good because it made the website look brighter, more
inviting and they were also images that the band had taken and uploaded keeping
their fans up to date on their whereabouts.
Anything you didn’t think worked?
I didn’t really understand what the ‘Mailing list’ page was about it doesn’t tell you or
give you any explanation as to why it’s there.
Is this a typical web site for this type of genre? Compare to at least one other.(make
sure you reference it here.
Compared to The Blackout’s website it is very typical for the genre as The Blackout’s
website is set out the same, same colours (dark) and text, there both different and
unique but are similar in style and representation of genre.

5. Poster/Digipack analysis
Brief Plot Synopsis from first impressions of the Poster/First impressions of digipak–
style etc.
The digipak style is a book as I’ve chosen The Blackout’s 3rd album ‘Hope’. My first
impressions is its quite simple and that it was written based on the hope they had as
a band.
Briefly describe the content of the cover/poster / its component parts
The colour is black with the band name and album name in the centre of the book,
above it is a firework traveling through the sky.
Describe the layout e.g. colour/photography/fonts/copy etc
The cover is black with an orange firework shooting through the sky just above the
band name which is in Ariel round font and then the album name which is in the
same font just in bold and a lot chunkier.
What colours were used principally on this artefact? How many colours were used in
the palette?
The only colours used are black for the background a silver for the text and a bright
orange for the firework. The palette is pretty plan only using 3 main colours.
Was there a specific style e.g. layout / typography i.e. a common look for the
artefact? Describe it?
What images did the artefact contain? What was the purpose of the images? How
are they composed – shot distance/angle/framing? What connotations do they
suggest? Does it link to the band/genre? Album/Film title?
The album is a book containing lyrics to all the songs, images of the band in the
recording studio showing its process, names of everyone who gave money to make
the album and the band thanking everyone. It’s a very different album compared to
most of bands in the same genre, its unique.
How is the band/Star presented – image?Text – Think representation/stereotypes
etc.

6. The band are represented through image and text. Through image they are seen as
hard workers in the studio playing their instruments, but through text these loving
people who cannot thank everyone enough for helping them make the album:
friends/family/management/girlfriends/fans!
What was the tone of the text– i.e. style of language -formal/humorous etc. What
could you find out about the film/band/album from reading the text? Are there any
connotations? Does it link to the overall style of the cover/relate to the band/CD
title etc
The tone of the text was formed as they were thanking everyone for helping,
however as they have their own paragraph you can tell each are personal to them so
have a personal tone, the text on the inside doesn’t link with the overall look as the
outside is very hard/blunt and simple, the text inside is very soft/personal and loving.
What industry information was included on the poster/digipak cover – e.g.
barcodes/certification/logos etc.
In the back of the album there is The Blackouts logo and underneath each record
company/management that helped. On the back of the album there is a barcode and
The Blackouts logo again.
Could you tell by the style of the poster/cover which genre they belonged to? How?
Looking just at the cover you had no idea which genre it belonged to because it was
so simple with practically nothing on it to give it away.
Write down anything you think worked particularly well on this product ?
I think the simplicity of the album works really well because it leaves the buyer
wondering and intrigued as to what it sounds like, I also like the fact it’s a book with
photos, lyrics and thanks in.
Anything you didn’t think worked?
I think there could have been more colour used.